Spotted this in an abandoned 9cm pot, slightly iridescent like mother of pearl buttons. No idea what used to be in there, but I've never seen this before! Any ideas?
'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
Just fascinating. Absolutely wonderful pic. Congratulations. Not a fungus. Some sort of capsule that is releasing the seeds???? Wonder if the green leaves are what is growing from the seeds? Please can you look overhead to see if there is a tree/shrub that might have dropped miniscule pods into your small pot. Edit...could the raindrops be releasing the seeds from inside cup . Cup appears to hold lots of seeds.
I'll be curious to know the answer, as we have them in a pot of Echinacea, and I had never seen them before this Summer. I assumed it was some sort of fungi, but I can see from the photo above that they are actually seed pods.
It's actually in a pile of otherwise empty pots on my potting table, over head is only the eaves of the shed. It may not always have been there, though - I've obviously just popped it there at some point and then forgotten about it. The nearest plant is a Cotoneaster, but not directly overhead. Rain on the eaves will drip into the pot, I think.
I don't know if the seedlings are related or not - will keep an eye on them.
I had initially thought fungus too, @KeenOnGreen, as they do have something of a stem attaching them to the soil. And looking at birds nest fungus, I think @Lyn and @Palustris are right.
'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
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Not a fungus.
Some sort of capsule that is releasing the seeds????
Wonder if the green leaves are what is growing from the seeds?
Please can you look overhead to see if there is a tree/shrub that might have dropped miniscule pods into your small pot.
Edit...could the raindrops be releasing the seeds from inside cup .
Cup appears to hold lots of seeds.
See link..needs further thought.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1046/j.1440-1703.2002.00524.x
I don't know if the seedlings are related or not - will keep an eye on them.
I had initially thought fungus too, @KeenOnGreen, as they do have something of a stem attaching them to the soil. And looking at birds nest fungus, I think @Lyn and @Palustris are right.
Many thanks everyone.
Isn't nature amazing.