Bamboo Pith Fungus

Phallus indusiatus

• Bamboo pith fungus is a spongy, cream-colored, tube-like mushroom that grows adjacent to, or along with, bamboo plants and groves. Known scientifically as Phallus indusiatus, it is also commonly called long net stinkhorn, crinoline stinkhorn or veiled lady. These names refer to the long netting or veil-like structure that drapes from the neck of the plant. The veil is typically white, but also can be yellow or orange. The veils vary in length.

Food Source

• The name stinkhorn refers to the rancid smell that emanates from the bamboo fungus. The smell is generally considered repulsive, but it does not prevent the mushroom from being consumed in dishes across the world. It is a popular vegetable used in a wide variety of meals, from soups to salads to stews. When cooked, it develops a mushy texture. It grows prolifically in any bamboo thicket in a tropical locale, including Mexico, Malaysia, Australia, South America, southern China, Japan and Hong Kong.

Pollination

• The cap of the bamboo fungus is covered with a greenish-brown ooze that emits the sickly-sweet smell of the plant. This ooze is is the result of reproductive spores that gather on the tip of the fungus and attempt to attract bees and flies for pollination. This reproductive process differs from many other types of fungus that simply introduce their spores into the wind.

Bamboo Pith Recipes

• You can utilize bamboo pith fungus in a multitude of recipes, including Seafood and Bamboo Pith soup, Braised Shark's Fin Soup with Crabmeat and Bamboo Piths, Bamboo Fungus Chicken Rolls in Vermicelli Soup and Bamboo Pith and Sauteed Winter Melon, a soup based in chicken broth. Phallus indusiatus may appear in upscale, gourmet Asian restaurants and in dried form at Asian and Chinese groceries.