Naturally, it was named Phallus drewsii. This comes form the list of the top 10 species named in 2009, complied by Arizona State University (not a very good list if 7 of my new species weren’t on there…). While I tend to avoid phallic and O’Keeffesque botany, this one I couldn’t resist because it was named after someone from my own institution. Dr. Robert Drewes now has a small phallic fungi named after him (with permission). Taxonomy humor at work.
I’d have a hard time agreeing to that – the scientific name causes giggle enough, but a common name of “Drew’s penis”? I don’t think I could deal with that!
Hmph! I’m laughing at the O’Keefian reference. How’s this to turn the tables or add fuel to your fire:
http://www.lowelab.org/Lowe_Lab/Home.html