Nothing compares to The Land Down Under, and that’s not necessarily a good thing. Australia has had us side-eyeing it for years now as more and more details about what exactly roams there become clear.
However, this? I have to say no. Even though you’ll never get to see the Upside Down, you’ll feel as though you’re on the set of Stranger Things if you ever lay eyes on this strange little plant.
People in Australia were left wondering what might be causing a foul-smelling fungus that kept appearing in their gardens. It appears to smell like rotting flesh and looks just like something from a horror movie.
But what is it? It’s a stinkhorn variation, according to Sydney’s Royal Botanical Gardens principal scientist Professor Brett Summerell. In an interview with Yahoo News Australia, he described the two varieties seen in people’s gardens as well as the reason behind the scent of “decaying flesh.”
“The first one is an anemone stinkhorn, which is found from southern Queensland to Tasmania, but it has since spread throughout Europe and North America,” Professor Summerell stated.
“The other is the octopus stinkhorn, or Anthurus archeri. The smell of decaying flesh is caused by both of them producing the dark, foul-smelling substance on the “tentacles” that draws flies and other insects to carrion.
As the weather cools off, they become more prevalent around this time of year, and they like woody mulch as a growth substrate. They both swiftly decompose and pose little threat to humans or animals.”
The role of it in Australian gardens was also discussed by Tom May, Principal Research Scientist at Victoria’s Royal Botanic Gardens.
“Flies are drawn to the spore mass and feed on the spores, which aids in their dispersal,” he stated. The sporting bodies frequently have strange shapes and colours, possibly to mimic the smell of rotting meat, which would attract flies because of its offensive stench.
“For humans, the smell means that it is unlikely that they would be consumed.” Now, while this may be brand-new information to you and me, social media commenters claim that internet users find it “every six years.”
One reader commented, “I’m 20 and I’ve seen these several times throughout my life what do you mean they’ve just found it?,” beneath a video of the fungus. “Why is it that we keep discovering this plant exists every six years?” said another. However, those from outside Australia had to comment.
Someone said, “Australia!!!” What the devil is going on down there, Steven King? As someone else made the joke, “Demogorgon.” We can only pray that it doesn’t spread to other nations.
