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Original poster

What are these odd things (photos) in my garden

30 replies

EnidSinclair · 22/03/2023 12:52

I have a lot of old yew tress in my garden; underneath one of them is a spread of about 100 of these. They are hard and a bit bendy but brittle and slightly transparent. Some kind of seed case? Or from an insect maybe?

The trees are home to a lot of wildlife, and so is the grass beneath them. Each disc is a cluster of a few stuck together (included 5p for scale!). Anyone have any ideas please?

What are these odd things (photos) in my garden
What are these odd things (photos) in my garden
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5
MaryPoppinsHat · 22/03/2023 14:32

My Google image search suggested either seashells or class A drugs 🤣🤣🤣 so interested to see if anyone knows!

WeCome1 · 22/03/2023 14:38

Honesty seeds?

WoeBeCome · 22/03/2023 14:38

Honesty seed pods thingys?

Bouledeneige · 22/03/2023 14:39

Are they organic material or man made? It's hard to ascertain from the photos. They look like fabric.

SmokyForTheWin · 22/03/2023 14:39

Prawn crackers?

woopdedoodle · 22/03/2023 14:42

Honesty would be a tall plant, purple flowers last summer, seed heads individually held on a tall stem.

Can you separate them out?

CalistoNoSolo · 22/03/2023 14:50

They don't look like honesty seed pods to me. Plus it's the wrong time of year. I have an ancient and huge yew in my garden and haven't seen anything like this under it before, though I will check tonight.

Cherrysoup · 22/03/2023 15:49

Spider baby sac?

Thighdentitycrisis · 22/03/2023 15:56

They look like sea shells but that gossamer looks related to a spider

Aoneslicesandwichisonlyahalfsandwich · 22/03/2023 16:00

Can you spread them out a bit and take a photo? Hard to see with them all clumped up.

If it is honesty, someone could have just thrown a dried bunch from a vase onto the compost heap & they’ve blown in. That could explain the wrong time of year.

Original poster
EnidSinclair · 22/03/2023 16:10

Thank you for your suggestions!

They’re not honesty pods; they don’t have that papery texture and no seeds visible. They’re not fabric either; the texture is like thin bendy plastic - almost like when you pick nail varnish off iyswim?!

I’ve separated a few and taken closer photos; you can see a radiating pattern which is inside/integral and they have no depth to them, just slightly curved

I hope to god they are nothing to do with spiders!

What are these odd things (photos) in my garden
What are these odd things (photos) in my garden
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picklemewalnuts · 22/03/2023 16:18

Could they be rubbish, thrown there?
They look a bit like rose petals, but actually more like dehydrated shavings off a mooli radish.

Greentree1 · 22/03/2023 16:25

Layers off a wasp nest? They can look pretty transparent and curved. Any nests in the trees?

Original poster
EnidSinclair · 22/03/2023 16:26

Yes I know what you mean @picklemewalnuts the pattern is like that, but they don’t have the texture of dried veg though I don’t think.

I’m wondering if it’s something the squirrels have taken up into the tree and chewed up maybe. There’s no scope for anything being thrown in by people really - well I suppose it could have blown in but it’s all in one place, which is odd

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PlatinumBrunette · 22/03/2023 16:31

Are you in the UK? They kind of look like scales - fish scales, or snake scales. But the size…!
Some creatures shed the outside of the claws, cats for example. But they don’t look anything like that.
Wasp nest doesn’t sound right, as they’re made of paper, really.
What a fabulous mystery!

SofarSowhat · 22/03/2023 16:33

They look a bit like bass scales.

Original poster
EnidSinclair · 22/03/2023 16:34

Yes, fish scales would be the closest thing to describe the texture (if not “picked off gel nails”! They don’t smell and are quite a bit bigger than you would expect. They do have that sort of translucency though.

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Original poster
EnidSinclair · 22/03/2023 16:36

Yes - should have said, I am in the UK (South East)

I have also never seen a snake the sort of size that could shed these…

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MonumentalLentil · 22/03/2023 16:36

They do look like dried/preserved petals but might be seeds as they are a bit transparent. I would put them back where you found them and keep an eye on them to see if anything happens.

themuminator · 22/03/2023 16:38

Uncooked prawn crackers?!

PlatinumBrunette · 22/03/2023 16:38

Ooh, tortoise/turtle shells shed! You have a tortoise up the tree!!
Or more likely, sadly, a bird used some for a nest?

What are these odd things (photos) in my garden
What are these odd things (photos) in my garden
Original poster
EnidSinclair · 22/03/2023 16:41

Oh @PlatinumBrunette that looks exactly right! I’ve just been poking around and found two big ones stuck together and was just musing on eg oyster chill linings (but we are not at all close to the sea.

I think you have solved my mystery - thank you Flowers

What are these odd things (photos) in my garden
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squashyhat · 22/03/2023 16:41

Do you have any camellias nearby? They look like petals maybe clumped together in the rain.

MonumentalLentil · 22/03/2023 16:42

Skeleton flower petals, or on the way to being skeleton ones, like when leaves dry up and just leave the skeleton. They would have probably been quite delicate white flowers a while back.
Possibly blown out of someone's bin or somewhere dry.

Original poster
EnidSinclair · 22/03/2023 16:43

Actually @PlatinumBrunette are you sure I don’t have a tortoise up the tree?? There are about a hundred of these things! Should I be hunting around for a recently woken-up-from-hibernation creature??

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