Hedgerow flasher

Phallus impudicus or stinkhorn fungus, an unseasonal sight but the winter weather seems not to have deterred this virile member of the species, emerging from the undergrowth at a horizontal angle instead of the usual vertical.

However, this specimen has shot its bolt too early, or too late, for the flying insects that normally feast upon the noxious-smelling green slime which coats the cap and contains the spores. Most of it has been washed away by the rain and very soon the whole erection will collapse as the spongy tissue goes limp and sinks back into nothing. So it goes!