The claim
There is said to be a mushroom whose scent gives women an orgasm in seconds.
Our conclusion
The claim is based on a test on 36 people in 2001. The name of the fungus is unknown and the supposedly scientific test has no scientific basis.
So there is supposed to be a mushroom that is not just called “Phallus Indusiatus”, but actually resembles a penis (yes, I can write penis in an article! Penis, penis, penis!).
And according to a sharepic, its scent is said to lead to orgasm or at least strong arousal in women, within seconds according to the linked article. Interesting, right? But why hasn't this scent been commercially available for a long time? The answer: Because there's not really anything to it!
The claim
This very widespread sharepic is:
The sharepic with a photo of the mushroom says " When a woman smells the mushroom "Phallus Indusiatus", she gets an orgasm ", the descriptive text reads " In a test for science, half of the women who smelled this mushroom came , to orgasm - the other half was at least clearly aroused .
There is also a short URL on the sharepic that leads to an article from RTL (see HERE ), which dates back to 2016. There are even more superlatives being thrown around: “ This mushroom does what many men dream of: bringing a woman to orgasm within seconds ” and “ The stinkhorn [can] bring women to such an ecstasy with its smell alone that they can reach orgasm within a few seconds come to the climax ”.
But RTL is not even the first source to report this, because a year earlier, in 2015, the website “ Heilpraxis ” already reported on the orgasm-inducing penis mushroom - but the study is not discussed in detail there either.
“I don’t want chocolate, I’d rather have one…. Mushroom?"
Well, dear fellow men, there we have it: Not only is every vibrator and dildo better than most of us, but a despicable mushroom now stands out to us. A mushroom! That looks like a penis and smells like orgasms! If he could mow the lawn and take out the trash now, we would be out of the window!
But wait, not so fast. Let’s take a look at this study first, shall we? Because the RTL article on which the Sharepic is based doesn't really say much about it, only that it appeared in the specialist magazine “International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms”. So let's just take a look!
The study – more of a party game
In search of the article in the specialist magazine you have to far back into the past - because it was published in 2001 (see HERE ). The accessible PDF also contains nothing more than an introduction to the article, from which we don't get much information.
The article also appeared online at the time, but unfortunately the page is no longer available. Luckily, 2015's Science Alert to view the article... and the results are somewhat sobering, as the "scientific test" is more like a party game. “ IFLScience ” also reported on it at the time, but deleted the article for good reason, because the test has nothing to do with science.
Accordingly, the stinkhorn fungus, which belongs to the genus Dictyophora, only grows on the 600 to 1,000 year old lava flows of Hawaii and is particularly difficult to find - so pack your baskets again, it doesn't grow here in the forest!
The two scientists John C. Holliday and Noah Soule heard a rumor that the mushroom was an aphrodisiac and so they had 16 women and 10 men the penis mushroom. The result:
- 6 women said they had a mild orgasm
- The heart rate increased in 10 women
- All men found the scent “disgusting”
If you don't see that this actually has anything to do with a scientific test (even if it was carried out by scientists), the differences should be mentioned here again:
- There was no control group
- There was no double-blind study
- 26 volunteers are far too few for real statistics
- An increased heart rate does not necessarily indicate sexual arousal
- Expectations based on rumors about the fungus may have influenced the results
- Statistically speaking, most women would be happy to sniff a penis-shaped mushroom, but most men would be less so
- The name of the fungus was never mentioned in the study, only referred to as a “newly discovered species.”
Outside of this study, there is no scientific evidence that an orgasm can be triggered by a scent alone - this fits more into the realm of fantasy or in the novel " Perfume " by Patrik Süskind.
Let's summarize
The biggest mistake in the claim is that it is not “ Phallus Indusiatus ” because this mushroom is quite well known and widespread in many tropical countries, but the unknown mushroom is only said to grow on the ancient lava flows of Hawaii.
The alleged scientific study/test was carried out by two scientists, but has no basis in scientific research. The orgasm mushroom wasn't even named, just referred to as a "newly discovered species."
And the last reason we can count is industry: This fungus is said to have been discovered in 2001, but not a single company has made any effort to synthesize the scent and produce a perfume or an aphrodisiac or at least to cultivate the mushrooms for it.
We're sorry, dear ladies, but according to all knowledge, the story of the orgasm-causing penis mushroom is just a legend.
But if a lot of trips to Hawaii are being booked soon, we know why. 😉
Also interesting:
What do NASA scientists do when they're not building rockets or hatching a global conspiracy?
They give drugs to spiders - and not just out of boredom! – Stoned spiders? Yes, NASA gave the crawlers drugs!
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )