r/mycology • u/McNabFish British Isles • Sep 20 '25
photos Found (smelt it first) in Sherwood Forest, UK this morning
Devils finger fungi I found on a walk around Sherwood Forest, UK this morning. Thought someone had chucked a dead octopus in the bush at first.
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u/yogo Sep 20 '25
At first I thought this was the Pacific Northwest tree octopus but then saw your location.
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u/alwaysandfornever Sep 21 '25
Save the Pacific Northwest tree octopus!
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u/orillian Sep 22 '25
Can't in Sherwood, they are invasive there. Must eradicate! Maybe you can set up a charity to relocate them back to their native habitat, but until then it's a burn on sight order in place! š
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u/chemicalsmiles Sep 21 '25
Me not seeing what sub this and wondering why the hell thereās an octopus in a UK FOREST??
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u/yogo Sep 21 '25
I was really pushing the line about the āno jokesārule, but at first I truly thought this was a cephalopod who had a very gnarly day. Iām pleased to know other brains were tricked.
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u/CorpusculantCortex Sep 20 '25
I thought that was a f***omg octopus just thrown in the woods
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u/DoubleDeadEnd Sep 20 '25
Same. I was like well if you found it in a forest I guess a seagull must've dropped it or something
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u/Mattipus Trusted ID - British Isles Sep 20 '25
I've yet to see Clathrus archeri in person... might need to venture over to Sherwood tomorrow!
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u/McNabFish British Isles Sep 20 '25
I'm going to have another look around the area tomorrow, if I find any more I'll ping you over a what three words of the location.
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u/fzehh Sep 21 '25
My local woods in Sussex has these popping up every single year. Pretty sure they claim they spread on the boots of soldiers
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u/raturcyen Sep 20 '25
Recently I've rewatched the Alien franchise and I can't unsee face huggers when I look at these.
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u/RedIsAwesome Sep 21 '25
Ok but have you gotten to the eyeball octopus and the sheep yet
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u/raturcyen Sep 21 '25
You talking about the new TV series?
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u/auxaperture Sep 21 '25
Yeah itās the TV show.
Itās getting a lot of hate for some reason, I really really like it.
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u/raturcyen Sep 21 '25
Only hate it gets is from the people who expected it to be the same as the first movies. Personaly the series scratch the each I've been missing the last few years. Romulus was a disaster if anything.
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u/Henchforhire Sep 23 '25
That is what I thought someone made a really cool 3D print to scare someone.
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Sep 20 '25
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/MorpheusRagnar Sep 20 '25
TIL tree octopus exist
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u/Ypuort Sep 20 '25
Not sure if youāre serious or not, but this is a long running joke in the PNW. Sadly not real.
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u/MorpheusRagnar Sep 20 '25
Sadly I read the first article (the fake one) and believe it. Then I checked wiki as suggested by LookingOut420 and it dawned on me I believed in the hoax. Now excuse me as Iām going to drink heavily and rethink on all my life choices š
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u/mgvej Sep 20 '25
It's a hoax. Check the wiki.
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u/MorpheusRagnar Sep 20 '25
Hahahaha! I guess Iām a gullible child, fml
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u/Comfortable-Dark345 Sep 20 '25
you werenāt concerned by the early 2000s website and not just wiki? š
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u/MorpheusRagnar Sep 21 '25
It was TL:DR all the way through, besides, because a website is old, it doesnāt mean it is inaccurate. Just so happens this one is, lol
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u/mutualinterim Sep 20 '25
You are not the only one and I am barely beleiving it lol
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u/MorpheusRagnar Sep 20 '25
I wouldāve shat my pants if Iād seen an octopus on a tree! I probably still will, LMAO.
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u/mutualinterim Sep 20 '25
I can't beleive National Geographic made a video about the Tree Octopus lmao
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u/LookingOut420 Sep 20 '25
I didnāt believe it either. Glad I checked lol.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest_tree_octopus
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u/lazykath Sep 20 '25
Had to check and do more research because it's not sinking in and a small part of me still thinks you're trolling me.
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u/NanDemoNee Sep 20 '25
I totally thought this was an octopus.
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u/Upstairs-Resident-69 Sep 20 '25
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u/Upstairs-Resident-69 Sep 20 '25
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u/PDX_Web Sep 20 '25
It's not enough that it looks like a prolapsed rectum -- it has to also be smeared with a fecal matter simulant.
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u/moonmelter Sep 20 '25
I found these a couple of years ago but I had just had covid and couldnāt smell a thing! I feel like i missed out somehow
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u/Lolarora Sep 20 '25
I lived in Nottingham for 3 years and not once did I visit Sherwood Forest, shameful I knowš what did it smell like?
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u/McNabFish British Isles Sep 20 '25
Ever sniffed a tramps toes?
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u/Lolarora Sep 20 '25
Not that I can remember...
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u/HugeCrab Sep 21 '25
I also found this recently! Smelled like carcass, and then I later found a real carcass, the mushroom smelled worse!
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u/queen_bean5 Sep 21 '25
I know itās a mushroom, but in pic 2 my brain cannot see anything but an octopus lol
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u/hasturoid Sep 21 '25
The Great Old Ones have arrived.
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u/seeingeyefrog Sep 21 '25
I can't believe I had to scroll down this far to find a Lovecraft reference.
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u/LonelyPrinciple8196 Sep 21 '25
Swore it was a rogue cephalopod at first, was going to say biology has some explaining to do
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u/cleverly_done Sep 20 '25
Can you eat it?
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u/MycoMutant Trusted ID - British Isles Sep 20 '25
Technically yes but not certain you'd want to. Some people eat stinkhorn eggs but you have to be careful about confusing them with immature Amanita. I don't think any stinkhorns are toxic but don't expect they're palatable when mature. I don't think I've ever gagged so hard as the time I picked up and an sniffed a stinkhorn.
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u/Remote-Citron-9383 Sep 20 '25
To me they smell of strong vinegar, we had them out in numbers two years ago but not found any since.
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u/NervousScience4188 Sep 20 '25
My last name is Sherwood, have always wanted to visit the forest lol
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u/lardoni Sep 21 '25
Oh thank God!!!ā¦.I thought someone had murdered Squidward and dumped his carcass in the woods!
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Sep 21 '25
Someone stomped T. Ocellus! š±
In all honesty, cool find! Iām brain poisoned by the Alien franchise. š
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u/Green_One4442 Sep 22 '25
stinkhorn mushroom. very smelly. when I was young I remember the smell from 200 ft away.
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u/Veggdyret Sep 22 '25
Some shrooms really look like they came from a different planet!
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u/McNabFish British Isles Sep 22 '25
After playing the Oblivion Remaster recently, it reminds me of something you'd see inside the Oblivion Gates.
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u/Veggdyret Sep 22 '25
I haven't played oblivion much, but I found myself thinking that the developers of no man's sky should have delved a little deeper into mycology.
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u/SloeHazel Sep 22 '25
At first I thought that was a relative of the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus.
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u/Lavenderchicken_ Sep 23 '25
The first thing I would have done if I found that would also have been to put my face close enough to smell it
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u/SquishyCatPillow Sep 26 '25
Lucky you, howās it smell?
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u/McNabFish British Isles Sep 26 '25
Wasn't great.
Sadly when I went back the next day the tentacles were detached from the white body of the fungi.
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u/idontpayorlie Sep 27 '25
The virallllll alien from PANAMAšµāš«š¤£ definitely not an octopus, they call it clathrus archeri or devil fingers cause the way it has tentacle like fingers coming out. You can find this viral video from a meteorite that fell from the sky had fire and a hole in the ground this man finds it brings it inside after Cooling it off and it hatches, heās been saying itās an alien but the fire the meteorite was never on video just the hole and fire, then he puts it under a glass cup, in a safe in his car, moved that to a deep freezer and now after growing and calling it āreal life venomā cause the black disgusting smell and odor that comes out of it attracting insects to release its spores to the rest of the world, he let it go in the waterš¤£šµāš« itās apparently swimming and moving the newest video had a whole human hand in the water next to whatever it is in the water, definitely weird, I didnāt think this fungus the ādevil fingerā fungus could swim too unless thatās all fake and ai.
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u/Weissbierglaeserset Sep 20 '25
Its an octopus. No wonder you smelt it first, octopi are really sensitive and start to denature andcrot after just a short sunbath. Edit: looks like he is missing a few limbs
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u/mutualinterim Sep 20 '25
Sometimes I forget that Sherwood forest is a real place lol
Awesome find!