Stinkhorn fungus

[wigz]

Found on a walk in the nearby forest. Phone photo and the focus isn't in the right place. It's hard to tell from the phone screen.

I did get one of the flies it attracted.

[MJ224]

Wow, an amazing plant/fungus. Are these common?

Photo works well, despite coming from a phone. I would not have noticed the OOF bit...

[wigz]

Thanks Mark. I've only ever seen them a couple of times but probably fairly common.

[David_MC]

Looks like some sort of alien creature.

[wigz]

Yes, very weird looking

[AlfandBen]

If I had seen that on the path I would have thought someone had lost a scrunchy, A strange but beautiful fungus although from the name I guess it doesn't have a very pleasant scent.

[wigz]

They smell like rotting flesh to attract flies to spread their spores.