witch's egg

plural witch's eggs

1. The juvenile form of a Phallus mushroom, such as Phallus impudicus or Phallus multicolor (syn. Dictyophora multicolor), which resembles an egg.

   "Smells like a sewer." "It's called Phallus impudicus, the witch's egg. Looks like there's blood in the slime." Sue peered at the fungus. "I bet you a penny to a pound that's menstrual blood."

   2013 September 10, Elva Thompson, Heartstar: Book One: the Key Made of Air, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 105

   1 more example

   [captions on images:] Phallus impudicus with witch's eggs, Denmark. Section through a witch's egg – the juvenile state of a stinkhorn, in this case a Phallus multicolor, Ecuador One of the most bizarre groups of fungi contains insect[…]

   2013 April 21, Jens H. Petersen, The Kingdom of Fungi, Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 177