WiseAcre Gardens

Widely distributed in North America this slime mold is supposed to be common and abundant. At least according to my Audubon mushroom field guide. I can’t remember ever seeing any but I am sure I never photographed some before today.

Chocolate Tube Slime – Stemonitis splendens

This yummy goodness grows on dead wood and leaves. The Chocolate Tube Slime I found today was growing on a log (in a bed of Poison Ivy). The yellow/orange colored growth between them is Dog Vomit Slime Mold – Fuligo septica. I get to that another day. You have more than enough to swallow already.

This is the final stage of growth. It began as a white Plasmodium mass and ended up contrary to it’s name – the chocolate tubes are dry and ‘dusty’ with spores. Notice the wood stained brown around the tubes by all the spores.

I found there’s still plenty of ‘chocolate powder’ left in these tubes and got it all over my finger.

Not the best macro ever photographed but it gives you some more detail with the tubes against my finger.

Reach out and touch someone.

I’ll leave you in my spore cloud. Again not the best photograph but it gives you an idea how easy it was to produce a cloud of spores. All I had to do was tickle it.

At least I think this is a great discovery. I managed to catch this slime mold in what seems to be multiple stages of growth. The first photo was taken a couple of days before the others. When I returned to the stump after a good soaking rain I found the blob had grown considerably and was displaying all it’s charms.

To the best of my knowledge this slime mold is:

Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa var. porioides

There’s not much information out on the web but my photos of it’s brain structure looks just like others that have been identified. (Correctly or not as the case may be)

What I think is the first stage looks like something that runs out of a toddler’s nose during winter. A clear snot like ooze had engulfed the surrounding moss. It appears to thicken and turn white as it ages.

The white stuff thickens even more turning yellow and looks like Witch’s Butter – Tremella mesenterica at this stage. But don’t let the photo fool you, this slime is not a tasty jelly mushroom.

I can only guess this is the mature stage and what looks like a brain coral is the spore bearing structure.

Compare the first photo with this one and you can see how the blob has grown. Check out the lower left part of the twig.

The last image is linked to a larger size (1024 x 768) and you can use it as a desktop background to remind you of your favorite wiseacre.
Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink

Oh my, look what happened to the plasmodium. Either it ran out of food or it sensed a change in the environment that caused it to turn into sporangia.

Lycogala epidendrum

It started to turn brown overnight.

Plasmodium – Think BLOB (the movie). It can creep along up to an inch per hour as a vein like mass of protoplasm eating and growing as it moves.

Sporangia – in this case a ‘cushioned’ ball made up of spores. When young the ball is a nice bright orange and the insides are liquid.

A cute little cushion on a bed of moss.

The cushions are squishy

Be careful or you might get that teenage feeling when it goes ‘POP’.

This was a young one when the inside was still liquid. And believe me it popped good, sending the fluid a long way. Finger licking good.

More toothpaste on another rotting log.

I didn’t realize how much older it was until I put my finger to it. The inside of this one had already turned into a paste.

The insides (when left alone) will continue to dry and turn brown. Basically it’s a spore sack.

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This is also called Wolf’s Milk slime mold. I can’t imagine why. Too bad whoever gave it that name didn’t watch the Simpsons. Who wants an Orange Squishy from the Kwik-E-Mart?

If this year’s slime post didn’t make you queezy enough – try last year’s:
Toothpaste Slime Mold – Lycogala epidendrum

BTW – this is not a fungus even though it looks like a puffball.