Juan Carlos Munoz / Cheese maturing on shelves in traditional dairy, Triglav National Park, Slovenia, October 2014.

Daniel Heuclin / Upland Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) with maturing bolls. Near Buckeye, Arizona, USA, September.

Nigel Cattlin / Goat willow (Salix caprea) male catkins. Kennett and Avon Canal, Berkshire, England, UK. April.

Nigel Cattlin / Hazel nuts (Corylus avellana) maturing on tree in summer. Berkshire, England, UK. July.

Juan Carlos Munoz / Organic cheese farm, with cheeses maturing on shelves Cadrg, Julian Alps, Tolmin, Slovenia, October.

Juan Carlos Munoz / Organic cheese farm, with cheeses maturing on shelves Cadrg, Julian Alps, Tolmin, Slovenia, October.

Tony Phelps / Bontebok (Damaliscus dorcas) female with maturing calf. De Hoop Nature Reserve, Western Cape, South Africa, January.

Kim Taylor / Leaf-cutting bee {Megachile sp) opened cell showing maturing larva and food store UK.

Tui De Roy / Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) farm, each pen maturing up to 10,000 fish, Reine, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Andy Sands / Slime mould (Stemonitis virginiensis) maturing sporangia on moss, Buckinghamshire, England, UK, July. Focus stacked.

Andy Sands / Slime mould (Comatricha nigra) maturing sporangia on rotting Beech log, Buckinghamshire, England, UK. July. Focus stacked.

Andy Sands / RF - Slime mould (Stemonitis fusca) maturing sporangia on rotting log, Buckinghamshire, England, UK. July. Focus stacked. (This image may be licensed either as rights managed or royalty free.)

Eric Baccega / Goat's cheese maker in cellar with shelves of maturing goat's cheese, Restonica valley, Haute Corse, Corsica. June. Model released.

Andy Sands / Slime mould (Cribraria aurantiaca) three maturing, green sporangia, circa 1.5mm tall, Buckinghamshire, England, UK. July. Focus stacked.

Nick Upton / Sea cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. oleracea) clump with maturing seed pods on limestone cliff top, Handfast Point, Dorset, UK. July.

Nigel Cattlin / Walnuts (Juglans regia) maturing green fruit on tree, Berkshire, UK. July.

Andy Sands / Slime mould (Enerthenema papillatum), around one millimeter tall, in red stage, maturing and drying. Buckinghamshire, England, UK. December. Focus Stacked.

Andy Sands / Two maturing groups of Chocolate tube slime mould (Stemonitis fusca) sporangia with snail (Gastropoda sp). Buckinghamshire, England, UK. July. Focus Stacked.

Nick Upton / Tall / Golden melilot (Melilotus altissimus) with maturing fruits, Kenfig National Nature Reserve, Glamorgan, Wales, UK, September.

Nick Upton / Sea sandwort (Honckenya peploides) clumps with maturing fruit capsules on sea shore, Merthyr Mawr National Nature Reserve, Glamorgan, Wales, UK. July.

Nick Upton / Hound's tongue (Cynoglossum officinale) seedheads maturing on a plant in sand dunes, Merthyr Mawr National Nature Reserve, Glamorgan, Wales, UK. July.

Nigel Cattlin / Velvet leaf (Abutilon theophrasti) yellow flowering broad-leaved weed in a maturing Soybean (Glycine max) crop, Illinois, USA.

Nigel Cattlin / Maize eyespot (Kabatiella zeae) fungal disease infection and lesions on Maize / Corn (Zea mays) leaves on a maturing plant, Illinois, USA.

Nigel Cattlin / Rows of orange trees (Citrus sinensis) with green, maturing fruit in an orchard in the Low Veldt, Transvaal, South Africa, February

Nigel Cattlin / Rows of orange trees (Citrus sinensis) with green, maturing fruit in an orchard in the Low Veldt, Transvaal, South Africa, February

Nigel Cattlin / Maturing avocado fruit (Persea americana) hanging from long peduncles on the tree, Transvaal, South Africa, February

Nigel Cattlin / Maturing ears of sorghum, broom-corn / great millet (Sorghum bicolor) against a blue sky, November, Thailand

Nigel Cattlin / Unripe passion fruits (Passiflora edulis) crop hanging on the vine before ripening and harvest, Thailand

Nigel Cattlin / Skin spot (Polyscytalum pustulans) lesions on the stem base and roots of a maturing potato plant

Nigel Cattlin / Stem canker (Rhizoctonia solani) lesions on the lower stem base and roots on a maturing plant in a potato crop

Nigel Cattlin / Barley leaf stripe (Pyrenophora graminea) characteristic symptoms on the leaves of a maturing barley crop

Nigel Cattlin / Root knot nematode (Meloidogyne arenaria) knots & damage to a maturing sugar beet root, Greece

Nigel Cattlin / Sugar beet virus yellows (BYV) chlorosis symptoms on a sugar beet leaf in a maturing crop, Greece

Nick Upton / Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanes) winged seeds maturing, Wiltshire, UK, September.

Nick Upton / Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanes) winged seeds maturing, Wiltshire, UK, September.

Nick Upton / Greater burdock (Arctium lappa) seedheads with spiny burrs maturing in a woodland ride, Catcott Lows NNR, Somerset, UK, September.

Andy Sands / Slime mould (Comatricha nigra) sporangia maturing, pink phase only lasts around one hour. Hertfordshire, England, UK. November. Focus stacked image.

Nigel Cattlin / Medlar (Mespilus germanica) maturing fully ripe fruit with leaves on the tree, Berkshire, October

Nigel Cattlin / Irrigation canals and newly repaired mud irrigation levies channeling water to paddy rice crops in ear, Luzon, Philippines

Nigel Cattlin / Green mango (Mangifera indica) fruit bunch on the tree, Guimaras Island, Philippines, February

Nigel Cattlin / Focus of infection of BYDV (barley yellow dwarf virus) with chlorosis and leaf tipping symptoms in maturing wheat crop in ear. England, UK.

Nigel Cattlin / Maturing summer pointed cabbage crop, leaf vegetable greens in a market garden farm, Berkshire, England, UK.

Nigel Cattlin / A winter wheat crop in green unripe ear with full grains on a fine day, Berkshire, June

Nigel Cattlin / A winter wheat crop in green unripe ear with full grains on a fine day, Berkshire, June

Nigel Cattlin / Maturing crop of Sorghum / Great millet (Sorghum bicolor) ears and leaves of a large plant in crop Tennessee, USA, October

Nick Upton / Common polypody (Polypodium vulgare) fern frond with maturing sporangia under its leaves in damp woodland, Lower Woods, Gloucestershire, UK, October.

Andy Sands / Slime mould (Badhamia utricularis), in reproductive phase. Close-up of maturing fruiting bodies (sporangia), each bearing thousands of spores. Buckinghamshire, UK.

Nigel Cattlin / Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) seedheads in maturing crop, France

Nigel Cattlin / Oilseed rape (Brassica napus) seedheads with mature green pods against blue sky in a vegetable oil crop. Berkshire, England, UK.