P1050491 P1050492 P1050490
Photo © Matt Muir some rights reserved
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, MD (Google, OSM)
38.4449004801, -76.1021349952
Accuracy: 10m
open

Description

(Not a) Fungus growing on the base of a (red or Norway?) maple

May. 05, 2012 21:10:57 -0400
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Comments & Identifications

5293-thumb

No not a fungus looks more like a slime mould to me, even looks like the plasmodium has climbed up from the forest floor before fruiting. My best guess with the yellow colouring would be Fuligo septica.

Posted by myxonz about 1 year ago (Flag)
5293-thumb
Dog Vomit Slime Mold - Photo (c) Sheila, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND)
myxonz's ID: Dog Vomit Slime Mold (Fuligo septica)
Posted by myxonz about 1 year ago (Flag)
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Dog Vomit Slime Mold - Photo (c) Sheila, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND)
muir's ID: Dog Vomit Slime Mold (Fuligo septica)
Posted by muir about 1 year ago (Flag)
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Cool-thanks. I've seen F. septica on wood mulch (I assume that's where most Americans know it from), but didn't know it can grow on live trees. Myxonz, does it find nutrients on the tree trunk, or does it feed in the leaf litter and, as you said, climb up only to fruit?

Posted by muir about 1 year ago (Flag)
5293-thumb

Wood mulch is were you see it most in urban habitats. In forest habitats I almost always find it on the tops of logs, its a species that seams to likes to climb high before fruiting. This will give its spore an advantage when it comes to dispersal but decaying wood and leaf litter are its normal substrate. I think finding it on a living tree is just an oddity or a tree of opportunity :) There are other myxo that do live on the bark of living trees but these are very small and not normal seen in the field.

Posted by myxonz about 1 year ago (Flag)
1000-thumb

Thanks, I'll start looking for it more.

Posted by muir about 1 year ago (Flag)
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Identification Summary

Dog Vomit Slime Mold - Photo (c) Sheila, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND)
muir's ID: Dog Vomit Slime Mold (Fuligo septica)
Dog Vomit Slime Mold - Photo (c) Sheila, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND)
myxonz's ID: Dog Vomit Slime Mold (Fuligo septica)

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