Aseroe coccinea

Aseroe coccinea
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Basidiomycota
Class:	Agaricomycetes
Order:	Phallales
Family:	Phallaceae
Genus:	Aseroe
Species:	A. coccinea
Binomial name
Aseroe coccinea Imazeki et Yoshimi ex Kasuya
Found only in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan

Aseroe coccinea Mycological characteristics
	Smooth hymenium
	No distinct cap
	Hymenium attachment is irregular or not applicable
	Stipe is bare
	Spore print is olive-brown
	Ecology is saprotrophic
	Edibility is unknown

Aseroe coccinea is a species of stinkhorn fungus in the genus Aseroe. First reported in Japan in 1989, it was not formally validated as a species until 2007, the delay related to a publication error. The receptacle, or fruit body, begins as a partially buried whitish egg-shaped structure, which bursts open as a hollow white stipe with reddish arms, then erupts and grows to a height of up to 15 mm (0.6 in). It matures into a star-shaped structure with seven to nine thin reddish tubular "arms" up to 10 mm (0.4 in) long radiating from the central area. The top of the receptacle is covered with dark olive-brown spore-slime, or gleba. A. coccinea can be distinguished from the more common species A. rubra by differences in the color of the receptacle, and in the structure of the arms. The edibility of the fungus has not been reported.