Frank McDonough, of the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, knows how to raise a stink.
He sends photographs of two of the most malodorous fungi in Southern California, the fetid Stinky Squid fungus (Pseudocolus fusformis) and Yellow staining Agaricus (Agaricus xanthodemus), the latter of which is toxic and warns away diners with a chlorine-like smell.
I asked Frank if the Arboretum seeded the fungi or whether they just appeared naturally. He replied that Stinky Squid spores come with the wood chips the arboretum uses as ground cover and propagate following a “big rain event.” The fungi are fascinating and colorful additions to autumn’s show.
As for the rest of the Arboretum, its trees are showing Patchy color. Autumn blaze maple, tupelo, redbud, pin oak and crepe myrtle are among the first and brightest to fire up. Some of the most dazzling displays of peak to follow will include gingko biloba, American elm, red oak, liquidambar, Dawn redwood, cypress, chestnut and Chinese tallow.
Now that California’s mountain forests are nearly past peak, the urban forests, orchards, vineyards and arboreta and botanic gardens will paint the landscape, and as rains fall so will emerge fungi to satisfy the eye, if not the nose.
- LA County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, Arcadia (482′) – Patchy (10-50%)
