Phallus Hadr. Jun.: Pers., Synops. Meth. Fung.: 242 (1801, nom. cons.); Hadrianus Junius, Phalli fang. gen. Holland. (1562).Dictyophora Desv. in J. Bot., Paris 2: 92 (1809). Hymenophallus Nees, Syst. Pilze Schwämme: 251 (1817). Ithyphallus (Fr.) E. Fisch. in Journ. Bot. Gard., Berlin 4: 41(1886). Type species: Phallus impudicus L., Species Plantarum: 1179 (1753) Description. Immature fruitbody hypogeous, globose to ovoid, soft-gelatinous, with conspicuous white rhizomorphs. Peridium white to pale, smooth, firm-membranous. Gleba attached to outer surface of pileus, dark olivaceous to blackish brown. Receptacle stipitiform, cylindrical, hollow, pseudoparenchymatous, bearing an apical, campanulate pileus with irregularly branching ridges over the outer surface. Indusium absent or scarcely developed in British species. Spore mass pale greenish yellow. Basidiospores small, ellipsoid, smooth, subhyaline. Habitat: amongst leaf litter in damp woodland; rhizomorphs attached to buried wood. An indusiate structure is present on most fruitbodies, although mostly this is reduced to a minute, rudimentary development which is completely hidden by the campanulate pileus. Phallus is a cosmopolitan genus, although the species diversity is much greater in tropical areas.