A saprobic species, it is typically found growing on the ground singly or in small groups on woody debris or leaf litter, during summer and autumn in Japan, Europe, and eastern North America.

Mutinus elegans was first described by British missionary John Banister in 1679 who chronicled the natural history of Virginia; this early report is thought to be the first account of a fungus in North America.

[10] The stalk is hollow and strongly wrinkled overall; its shape is cylindrical below, but it gradually tapers to a narrow apex with a small opening at the tip.

The upper half of the stalk is bright red to reddish orange, and the color gradually loses intensity transforming into pinkish white below.

[9] A 1982 study revealed that spores of species in the family Phallaceae, including Mutinus elegans, have a hilar scar (0.2–0.3 μm diameter) that is observable with scanning electron microscopy.

[13] The "dog stinkhorn" (Mutinus caninus) is less common,[5] smaller, has a distinct oval or spindle-shaped tip on a slender stem and lacks the bright coloring of M. elegans; it has less of the stalk covered by gleba.

[14] Mutinus bambusinus is similar in size and shape, except it does not have a distinct color demarcation between the upper and lower parts of the stalk; instead, the entire stem shows red pigments.

[16] This common species has been collected in eastern North America,[5] in the area extending from Quebec to Florida and west to the Great Lakes,[12] Iowa,[17] Colorado, and Texas.