1827 The genus Phallus, commonly known as stinkhorns, is a group of basidiomycetes which produce a phallic, often foul-scented mushroom, from which their name is derived.

The lightness, however, and looseness of the substance and (a necessary condition for the existence of sponges) the sour sap of the moist earth where it was born, all bear witness that it belongs to the family of the fungi.

Fungi, on the other hand, as stated clearly by authors, live in swampy, dirty, and rotting moist places, such as close to the roots of oak trees.

[4] Some authors have considered the presence of an indusium (a lacy "skirt" that hangs beneath the cap) to be an important taxonomic characteristic, and have placed taxa with indusia in a separate genus Dictyophora.

[18] The immature fruit bodies of Phallus species grow underground, are roughly spherical to ovoid, and have a soft or gelatinous surface.

The slimy spore mass, or gleba, is attached to outer surface of the cap, and is colored dark olivaceous to blackish brown.

The stalks of Phallus mushrooms are called receptacles: they are upright, cylindrical, hollow, spongy, and bearing roughly bell-shaped cap with irregularly branching ridges on the outer surface.

Roughened spore surfaces are considered by some mycologists to be an adaptation that results in friction during travel in the air, and increase dispersal distances.

[23] The Yoruba people of Nigeria call stinkhorn mushrooms Akufodewa, a combination of the words ku (die), fun (for), ode (hunter), and a (search).

[26] Phallus mushrooms are also used by the Yoruba to prepare a charm known as Egbe, which reputedly "has the power of making one invisible in the face of danger.