Slime Moulds

[JohnRostron]

I have mentioned before that Slime Moulds are not the most photogenic of organisms (note I had to use this word since they are neither plants, animals nor fungi). Those I have found have all been in the stage where the single-celled stage has grouped itself into a slime-like mass, and before they produce the fruiting bodies. Anyway, here are a few:

#1 is Fuligo septica, one of the few to have a vernacular name. It is known as 'Dog's Vomit'. I think that the dog must have been round the back of the local curry house. Photographed within a wood.


#2 is, I think, another Fuligo species. Whereas most slime moulds seem to be on dead wood, this was crawling (if that's the right word) up a stem among the brambles.


#3 is Reticulata lycoperdon, found on a very wet bench in the open in a small nature reserve near Chester Zoo.


All of these were just a few centimetres across.

The photos were all taken with my Canon PowerShot, so don't expect DSLR quality.

John

[IzzieK]

The last one in the background got a lot of fruits...all nice good ones and ID-ed well.

[Wavelength]

I think the second one has gone out of focus; the third one could have been even nicer if you chose less harsh light-time of the day; very informative

[purplehaze]

Yes, very interesting, John. What reference do you use for species identification?

[JohnRostron]

I think the second one has gone out of focus; the third one could have been even nicer if you chose less harsh light-time of the day; very informative

Yes, the second was the best I had out of three images, but still slightly oof. The last one was taken on a damp, overcast November morning at around 8.30 am, whilst waiting for the Zoo to open. The sun chose that moment to appear from behind the clouds.

John

[JohnRostron]

Yes, very interesting, John. What reference do you use for species identification?

I used the Collins Complete British Mushrooms and Toadstools by Sterry and Hughes. They have a couple of pages at the end on Slime Moulds.

John

[JohnRostron]

The last one in the background got a lot of fruits...all nice good ones and ID-ed well.

I think that the yellow blobs, and the yellow and grey encrustations are actually lichens.though I do not know what the fruits of Reticulata would look like. I'm not the Oracle you might think I am, Izzie.

John

[Dave Humphries]

Hi John,

An interesting set.

In #2, that looks like camera shake to me (at 1/10s) and as there seems to be a distinct 'before and after' (judged on the tiny white spot smears), it's something that PS could probably correct quite easily.

HTH, Dave

[JohnRostron]

In #2, that looks like camera shake to me (at 1/10s) and as there seems to be a distinct 'before and after' (judged on the tiny white spot smears), it's something that PS could probably correct quite easily.

HTH, Dave

Thanks for the suggestion. I will give it a go.

John

[RandyRFJP]

Hi John. Thanks for posting the photos. I don't recall seeing anything similar to photos 1 & 3. I've seen specimens similar to #2, and they were growing on and encircling small, fallen tree branches, too. The ones I saw appeared to be very dry. I thought they might be some type of crustose lichen. I defer to your ID, not living in the UK and having no field guide to ID either lichens or slime molds.

[IzzieK]

..............I'm not the Oracle you might think I am, Izzie.
............John

I thought you are...I must change my thinking then.

[JohnRostron]

In #2, this looks like camera shake to me (at 1/10s) and as there seems to be a distinct 'before and after' (judged on the tiny white spot smears), it's something that PS could probably correct quite easily.

I have just tried the PS shake filter, Piccure, Topaz InFocus and Focus Magic (the last two as Affinity plugins). None of them made any difference! I shall just have to wait for the autumn and try and hold still!

John