Fuligo septica (L.) F.H.Wigg

Slime mold

About plant names...

This slime mold has some pretty unsavory names, like dog vomit, but it is commonplace in damp weather, on rotting leaves, wood and in bark mulch. It munches on fungal spores, bacteria, and other microbes. Slime mold is pretty amazing stuff. It is a "eukaryotic microbe"—a giant, single-celled organism, one of more than 30,000 species.

Identification: The bright yellow, jellylike slime, which seems to appear out of nowhere after wet weather, is conspicuous and hard to confuse. Photo 24 shows it in a hard, crusty phase, with a white powdery top. In photo 13, it is in its dormant, dried out phase. This looks a bit like soil, but it is a fine powder which explodes like a smoke bomb if you step on it.

Edibility: Just kidding.

I took a time lapse movie of this slime mold, atop some decaying bark mulch. It appeared to be dormant for most of the several hours, but in this segment, covering about 15-20 minutes, it seems to come alive like a creature from the Twi­light Zone:

(Or see it larger here .)

Online References:

Troutsnotes.com

Wayne's Word

1 · 7/26/2021 · Acton, Mass­a­chu­setts · By Rhonda Tatiana Schorer

2 · 8/22/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 11 × 7″ (27 × 18 cm)

3 · 6/16/2012 · Groton Place and Sabine Woods, Groton, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 9 × 6″ (22 × 14 cm)

4 · 5/17/2010 · Wildlife Pond Loop Trail, Beaver Brook Association Conservation Lands, Hollis, New Hamp­shire · ≈ 8 × 5″ (19 × 13 cm) ID is uncertain

5 · After it starts to dry out. · 6/18/2011 · Sue and Rai’s, Phoenix, Mary­land ID is uncertain

6 · 9/21/2023 · Borestone Mountain, Elliotsville, Maine · ≈ 10 × 6″ (24 × 16 cm)

7 · 9/5/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (17 × 11 cm)

8 · 7/3/2015 · Squannacook River Wildlife Area, Townsend, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 8 × 5″ (19 × 13 cm)

9 · 6/20/2007 · Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts

10 · It looks like the slime mold altered the development of the mushroom. · 7/12/2013 · Wooden Bridge, East Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 10 × 7″ (25 × 16 cm)

Fuligo septica description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 26 Sep 2023.

© FloraFinder.org. All rights reserved.

11 · 6/20/2007 · Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts

12 · After it starts to dry out. · 6/18/2011 · Sue and Rai’s, Phoenix, Mary­land ID is uncertain

13 · 8/22/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 5 × 3½″ (13 × 9.2 cm)

14 · 8/26/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 5 × 3½″ (13 × 9.2 cm)

15 · After it starts to dry out. · 6/18/2011 · Sue and Rai’s, Phoenix, Mary­land ID is uncertain

16 · 9/5/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (17 × 11 cm)

17 · After it starts to dry out. · 8/28/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 8 × 5″ (19 × 13 cm) ID is uncertain

18 · 6/21/2007 · Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts

19 · 7/22/2012 · Wapack Trail, Pack Monadnock, Peterborough, New Hamp­shire · ≈ 14 × 9″ (35 × 23 cm)

20 · 8/22/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 3 × 4½″ (7.9 × 11 cm)

21 · 8/20/2009 · Tom & Susan’s, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 17 × 12″ (44 × 29 cm)

22 · 9/5/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (17 × 11 cm)

23 · 6/25/2016 · Old Long Loop, Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, New Hamp­shire

24 · 10/5/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 9 × 6″ (22 × 15 cm)