Animal, vegetable or mineral?

I had a couple of hours to myself this afternoon so visited a friend and his wife to capture some of the gorgeous spring blooms that grace their garden. However, although I have lots of potential blips from the bloom group I've chosen an image of the top portion of a seed head that I think lends itself to many interpretrations. It is in fact the seed head of a plant that stands some 8 to 9 feet tall - a "Cardiocrinum Giganteum". A very interesting plant that flowers on a 7 year cycle. It dies after flowering and if you are lucky a new incarnation will appear and begin the cycle again. We looked at the base of this seed head and it looks as thought there are may be four new plants emerging.