We found this growing in our garden earlier in the year and had no idea what it was. With a little research I have discovered it is a Clathrus pusillus, or Red Cage Fungus as it’s often called.
Isn’t it beautiful? The colours were so vivid and it seemed so delicate. I was sad to realise that at the end of the day, it had shrivelled and disintegrated into a pulpy mess, covered in ants and flies.
Now that I have finally got around to finding out what it was, I know that what it did was exactly what it should have done.
This particular fungus gives off a dead, rotting meat smell (I didn’t notice an odour but then, I didn’t exactly go sticking my nose in it either) which attracts flies and ants, which then feed on it and do their part to deliver the spores to other parts of the garden.
Apparently they are also potentially poisonous if ingested and some animals have died as a result of eating them.
But I can’t get past how beautiful it was. Popping up in the midst of all the brown leaves and dirt sat this amazing, vibrant creature. As beautiful for it’s strangeness as anything else.
It was a reminder that ‘all that glitters is not gold”.
How easy it still is, at the age of 40, to be fooled by someone’s or something’s outward appearance.
To be taken in by beauty only to discover too late the foul stench of decay.
Love that last line, Susannah. LOL! – Ahh we’ve all been there. What an interesting thing that is, though I must say I’m glad not all plants decided to adopt the stick and attract policy.
Yes we have
And don’t some people just reek of the ‘foul stench of decay’??? LOL
I’m glad not all plants are as jekyll and hyde as that, too!
I like it, very true. But what made you look up what it was? it’s been ages since we found that.
I know but every time I look at the photos on my computer, it’s there and I would think to myself “I really must look that up” and today, I did
Similar to those vibrant amphibians found in tropical places–they’re poisonous, but their colors are bright because it’s a warning not to come too close.
What a girl you are for researching the plant. I run across plants, butterflies, birds, etc that I have not seen before and I’ll tell myself I should look it up, but I get lazy. Well, sometimes I do Google it.
Great last line!
Yes, exactly like that
As my daughter pointed out in a previous comment, it took me awhile to look it up!
Glad you like the last line – I feel like I should use it in my MS somehow
Well done. Yes, use that line. It is so true, too true. The image of that plant is now embedded as a reflection of the gold that glitters. . .
Thanks Normandie
Yes, it is for me too now….just incidentally, I think they also belong to the type of fungus affectionately termed ‘stinkhorn’…a nice bit of word imagery to go with the image 
What a beautiful fungus! I gasped when I saw the picture (beautiful), then was all ‘ew and yuck’ when I read what it was. But it is beautiful and a little sci-fi looking. What surprises we see when we take the time to look closely. And just because someone is showing a glittering smile doesn’t mean they won’t bite.
So glad you agree it’s beautiful, Karen. I think it’s gorgeous
Yes, I could see it in a sci-fi book or featuring on Dr Who or something 
As a writer of horror, I can think of LOTS of stuff to do with this picture.
Oh yes! Do it, Karen!
May I take another angle at it? I can think of a few other living things that burst onto the scene in adorable pink cuteness and bloom in the glorious beauty of youth, only to later mature and digress into foul odors and a less appealing appearance. There is value even in excrement and decay to the earth’s ecosystem. There is some value to all living things, even if only as eventual compost.
LOL so true, Vaughn! Love the parallel! Although, I wasn’t saying it was of no value, only that one needed to be careful and not taken in by it’s appearance….the ants and flies loved it, so it is attractive to someone in it’s decomposing state, just like the other living things you mentioned