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This is a bizarre photo of a bizarre fungus! (Common Stinkhorn), the scientific name for this Fungi is Phallus Impudicus......I think the word “Phallus” sums things up perfectly! LOL.
This is probably my favourite fungi (as grotesque as it is!), so to find 2 so close together (and at such different stages of life) was so cool and a first for me!....I have slightly cheated here, because the 'spent' fruiting body to the right has been half eaten at it's base, it was lying flat on the ground, so I propped it up against the other one to get a decent pic.
I used my 500mm lens to get a good distance away from the flighty flies (and to super blur the background), after setting everything up I had to wait for ages for the temp to rise, then I knew the flies would turn up (as they always do!)
I know it's just a fungi, but I think it's a bizarre marvel of nature!, such a weird looking thing with a unique way of spreading it's spores.
These fungi are very easy to find, because like their common name, they really do stink!, they are supposed to smell like rotting flesh, but it's more an unpleasant and very pungent sickly sweet smell, it's a unique/unforgettable smell......and not very nice!
Apparently these things are actually edible!, they are non poisonous to humans at all stages, but are “best eaten” before they emerge (at their “witch's egg” stage), apparently when fried in butter they have a fishy taste............:-0