Thelephora palmata commonly known as the fetid false coral or stinking earthfan, is a species of clavarioid fungus in the family Thelephoraceae.

The fruit bodies are leathery and coral-like, with branches that are narrow at the base before widening out like a fan and splitting into numerous flattened prongs.

[3] The species has several synonyms, resulting from several generic transfers in its taxonomic history, including Ramaria by Johan Theodor Holmskjold in 1790,[4] Merisma by Christian Hendrik Persoon in 1822,[5] and Phylacteria by Narcisse Théophile Patouillard in 1887.

[6] Other historical synonyms are Merisma foetidum, published by Christian Hendrik Persoon in 1797,[7] and Pier Andrea Saccardo's 1888 Clavaria schaefferi.

[10] Samuel Frederick Gray called it the "stinking branch-ear" in his 1821 work A Natural Arrangement of British Plants.

Some specimens were on one occasion taken by Mr. Berkeley into his bedroom at Aboyne, when, after an hour or two, he was horrified at finding the scent far worse than that of any dissecting room.

He was anxious to save the specimens, but the scent was so powerful that it was quite intolerable till he had wrapped them in twelve thick folds of the strongest brown paper.

Mordecai Cubitt Cooke, 1888[14] The fruit body of T. palmata is a coral-like tuft that is repeatedly branched from a central stalk, reaching dimensions of 3.5–6.5 cm (1+3⁄8–2+1⁄2 in) tall.

[10] Fruit bodies grow singly, scattered, or in groups on the ground in both coniferous and mixed forest[18] and grassy fields.