365Caws is now in its 16th year of publication. If I am unable to post daily, I hope readers who love the natural world and fiberarts will seize those days to read the older material. Remember that this has been my journey as well, so you may find errors in my identifications of plants. I have tried to correct them as I discover them. Likewise, I have refined fiberarts techniques and have adjusted recipes, so search by tags to find the most current information. And thank you for following me!
Friday, July 22, 2016
Fuligo Septica, Scrambled-Egg Slime Mold
Day 283: Fuligo septica has an alternate and more widely used common name, but thank you all the same, I prefer "Scrambled-egg" to "Dog-vomit." The latter seems too harsh for one of the most unusual life-forms on the planet. Once lumped with fungi in the botanical hierarchy, the behaviour and life cycle of this organism justified creating a new Kingdom in which to contain it: the Protists. Individual amoeba-like cells have a life independent of others, moving about until they encounter a partner cell with which to fuse and breed. This motion can actually be observed in the space of a minute or two in some slime molds such as Fuligo septica. Slime molds may also respond to stimuli such as a change in light or proximity to a food source. That thought should make you watch where you step in the forest!
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