11.03.11 In spite of recent wintery weather, these Ravenel's Stinkhorns seem to be continuing to develop at the base of a decaying maple tree. The pinkish round structure is the first above-ground appearance of this fungus from its mycelial tissue - "rootlets". The cap, on its spongy-looking white stalk pushes out of the volva; spores are dispersed through the white-ringed opening in the cap. Usually, the odor rouses my awareness to their presence before I see them; in today's cold temperature, that was not so.