7. Black Witches’ Butter (Exidia glandulosa)
Björn S/FlickrBlack Witches’ Butter.
Jean-Baptiste Francois Bulliard, a French naturalist, first recorded this strange fungus in 1789.
Named as such for its color and greasy consistency in wet weather, Black Witches’ Butter appears on dead hardwood during the autumn and winter seasons. Alternately, in hot and dry weather, these mushrooms appear more greenish-brown and crusty.
Björn S/FlickrAlso known as Black Jelly Roll, this strange mushroom might have magical powers.
Growing singly or in clusters on dead trees — typically oak, hazel, or beech — this bizarre mushroom appears gelatinous in its consistency. It appears to melt in wetter weather and hardens when dry, meaning it is a hardy grower most everywhere on the globe, though particularly in North America and Europe.
Also known as Black Jelly Roll or Warty Jelly Fungus for its appearance, another possible origin for its witchier name may be in its supposed power in counteracting witchcraft if thrown into a fire.
Wikimedia CommonsResembling tar blobs, the gelatinous fruiting bodies of this mushroom sometimes glob together to make larger, brain-like shapes.
Another interesting characteristic of this mushroom that isn’t in its name is the fact that it is pioneer species. This means that it occupies a place lacking nutrients before any other organism can.
It then makes that area more hospitable for insects and bacteria, bringing new life to a place that once was dead. Perhaps there’s magic in it after all?
8. Basket Fungi (Ileodictyon cibarium)
essjay/FlickrBasket Fungi.
Also called “stink cage,” these hollow, structural mushrooms known as basket fungi are a hardy sort. Known as Basket Fungi for their concave shapes, these mushrooms grow in woody debris, cultivated soil, or even lawns.
Found in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Chile, this fungus was known to ancestors of the Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, by over 35 different names —one of them being “ghost droppings.”
Nzfauna/Wikimedia CommonsA cross-section of an “unpopped” basket fungus.
Like many other strange fungi, the stink cage has a smelly, slimy layer that attracts flies who then spread their spores. When they’re young, these bizarre mushrooms start out in an egg-shaped body that is usually white or grayish in color.
But as it matures, a basket-like lattice bursts out from the egg-like body, releasing a stinky slime. So even though these mushrooms are safe to eat, it’s best to get to them before their baskets pop, or else suffer the putrid slime.
Nzfauna/Wikimedia CommonsBasket fungi have been linked to devilish figures in Maori culture.
Because of their unusual appearance, basket fungi have been the subject of many Maori myths, including one that claims the baskets pop after a thunderstorm.
9. The Devil’s Cigar (Chorioactis geaster)
Wikimedia CommonsThe Devil’s Cigar mushroom.
The body of this extremely rare mushroom looks like a fuzzy brown or black cigar at first. But when this bizarre fungus reaches maturity, it peels itself back like a banana — or as if it were a “blossoming flower of death.”
When it peels back, the strange fungus forms a star-like shape of four to seven rays. Inside the body, its spore-bearing tissue is anywhere from white to brown, depending on its age.
Bill Dodd/FlickrOne of the strangest mushrooms, the Devil’s Cigar lets out a bizarre hiss.
When it opens, a distinct hissing sound can be heard — along with a smoky cloud of spores.
This extremely rare mushroom has a very odd distribution; you can find it only in Texas, Oklahoma, and Japan. So far, scientists can’t say for sure what these different but specific locales have in common to host this fungus.
Wikimedia CommonsScientists still don’t know why these strange mushrooms appear where they do.
Devil’s cigars in Texas grow on dead cedar elms, while the Japanese variety prefers dead oak trees. Neither one of the varieties are edible, but the Japanese version is listed as a threatened species due to the deforestation of oak trees.
Of all the strange fungi on this list, this demonic hissing mushroom that grows in seemingly random places might be among the weirdest.
After looking at these out-of-this-world mushroom species, find out what happened when a Nebraska man injected “magic mushrooms” into his veins. Then, meet the Dutch inventor who created a living “mushroom coffin” to compost corpses.
