When I stepped outside to water the flowers this morning, a sharp, metallic smell stopped me cold. My chest tightened as I
scanned the garden—and there it was: something red, slimy, and writhing among the petals. It looked like flesh turned inside out, pulsing faintly in the sunlight. The stench of decay was so strong it made my eyes water. I fumbled for my phone and took a photo, half convinced I’d discovered something alien.
A quick online search gave it a name: Anthurus archeri, or the “devil’s fingers” mushroom. Native to Australia, this bizarre fungus has spread to gardens worldwide, shocking anyone unlucky enough to find it. It starts as a pale, egg-shaped sac underground before bursting open, revealing four to eight crimson, tentacle-like arms coated in a black, putrid slime.
That slime, it turns out, is nature’s bait. Its stench mimics rotting flesh, luring flies that mistake it for carrion. When they land to feed, the fungus attaches spores to their legs, turning them into unwitting messengers that spread its offspring far and wide. It’s grotesque—but brilliantly designed for survival.
Even knowing what it is, I can’t shake the unease. The flowers I planted now share space with something that smells of death. I avoid that corner of the yard now, letting it keep its strange dominion. The devil’s fingers can have that patch of earth—some things, I think, are better left undisturbed.