The fruit body has an odor comparable to "fresh dog feces", "rotting flesh", or "sewage" when mature.

The fungus is native to Asia, and is also found in Australia, Europe and North America, where it is probably an introduced species.

[3] Cibot's original name for the lantern stinkhorn, Phallus mokusin, was sanctioned by Christian Hendrik Persoon in his 1801 Synopsis Methodica Fungorum.

[8] Some authors have attempted to define forms of L. mokusin as new species based on the degree of separation of the apical arms.

[10] Lysuris mokusin has been included in a large-scale phylogenetic analysis of Gomphoid and Phalloid fungi published in 2006, and was shown to form a clade with Simblum sphaerocephalum, Lysurus borealis, and Protubera clathroidea.

[11] Immature fruit bodies of L. mokusin are white, gelatinous "eggs" measuring 1–3 cm (1⁄2–1+1⁄4 in) in diameter, and are attached to the ground by thickened strands of mycelium called rhizomorphs.

As the fungus matures, the egg ruptures as the fruit body rapidly expands, leaving volval remnants behind at the base.

[18] Lysurus mokusin is saprobic, and grows solitarily or in small groups in forest litter, and wood chip mulch used in landscaping, and compost.