A ‘SPOOKY fungus’ known as ‘Devil’s Fingers’ has been found on the Quantock Hills, 11,000 miles away from its native habitat.

The creepy mushroom, official name Clathrus archeri, usually grows in Australia and New Zealand but its spores have been spreading around the world.

It is also referred to as ‘octopus stinkhorn’ or ‘octopus fungus’, its names coming from the fact that four to seven red colour tendrils emerge from a slimy, gelatinous egg-shaped pod.

The ‘fingers’ contain a black, sticky substance which is coated with spores on the inside of each tendril contributing to the mushroom’s creepy appearance.

It grows and then wilts within a few hours and gives off a strong stench similar to rotting flesh as it blooms.

The smell attracts insects to its tentacles and the visiting insects then spread the spores.

Two members of the Friends of the Quantocks social media pages have recently come across the fungi on the Quantocks.

Robin Stamp saw it near Kilve, while John Fisher took photographs of the unusual sight near Fyne Court, Broomfield.

Mr Fisher said he was out with his camera when he found ‘a spectacular fungus that looked like a six-limbed octopus about 10 cm across’.

He said he was on a slope where he occasionally picked parasols mushrooms for soup when he saw three of the ‘Devil’s fingers’ in various stages of opening or over-ripe.

He said: “I had never heard of them before, the main one was six limbed but apparently they have between four and eight tentacles on occasion.

“I just loved the symmetry and colour.”

When Mr Fisher returned to the location for more photography he found the original star-burst mushroom had decomposed, but others nearby looked ‘more squid-like, or devilish’.