Basket Fungus

Clathrus cibarius (also known as Lattice fungus) spied on the roadside bank when Bella and I were out walking this morning. The brown stuff is sticky mucus which contains spores and smells horrible. It attracts hordes of flies which gobble it all up and when they leave the picked-clean receptacle, they take the spores with them to be deposited elsewhere. This isn't the most elaborate 'basket' I've seen but it's the freshest.