Ileodictyon cibarium

Ileodictyon cibarium is a saprobic species of fungus in the family Phallaceae. It is found in Australia,[1] New Zealand and South Africa, where it commonly known as the basket fungus or the white basket fungus, alluding to the fruit bodies that are shaped somewhat like a round or oval ball with interlaced or latticed branches. While the immature volvae are edible, the mature fruit body is foul-smelling and covered with a slime layer containing spores on the inner surfaces.

Basket fungus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Fungi
Division:
Basidiomycota
Class:
Agaricomycetes
Order:
Phallales
Family:
Phallaceae
Genus:
Ileodictyon
Species:
I. cibarium
Binomial name
Ileodictyon cibarium
Tul. (1844)
Ileodictyon cibarium
float
Mycological characteristics
glebal hymenium
no distinct cap
hymenium attachment is irregular or not applicable
lacks a stipe
spore print is olive-brown
ecology is saprotrophic
edibility: edible

Description
Basket fungus mature fruit body, showing covering of green/brown slime containing spores

Prior to the opening of the volva, the fruit body is egg-shaped and white to grayish in color. After opening, it is a whitish ball of meshes.

Habitat
Cross section of the unopened fruiting body of the New Zealand basket fungus (Ileodictyon cibarium), next to a ballpoint pen

This fungus grows alone or clustered together near woody debris, in lawns, gardens, and cultivated soil.

Edibility

The immature volvae are edible however unappealing.

References
  1. "Ileodictyon cibarium". Atlas of Living Australia. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
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