Looks like a fungus to me

Its the fruiting heads of Horsetail. Look at two of the plants adjacent to the path at the bottom of the picture abd you can see the banding on the stem.

yep horse tails. I hope that isn't your land Botanic as it is a real problem to control.

I had stems of this equisetum creep in from next door a few years ago and it's a nightmare to keep on top of. Not sure you can ever fully get rid of it, just keep under control.
They say it's millions of years old and that it's roots can go down many metres.
It has come up next to my fence through tarmac!

Turkeys love this, they eat it, (horsetail or Equisetum) I am told it is one of the oldest plants living and dinosaurs used to eat it (hence turkeys liking it!!) failing that I have found Resolva24 work in my courtyard, where it actually grows right through horticultural membrane and shingle. Roots go down up to 12', pulling it just encourages it to increase.