Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Ceratiomyxa's Starring Role


Day 232: Yesterday marked the first day that I worked with the film crew from Oregon Field Guide for a segment featuring slime molds. I was rather concerned that the stars of the show would fail to appear, because only last Friday, I went on a concerted search for slimes in the area and found nothing but a collapsed colony of Lycogala epidendrum. It didn't bode well. When I arrived at our meeting location, the cinematographer (Stephanie) was already there and had begun getting her gear out. I took advantage of the time we had before Ian was due to arrive to explore the immediate area, and was delighted when I found a large patch of Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa var. poroides, perhaps my favourite of all slime molds. I reported back to Stephanie that the team wouldn't have to return to Portland skunked. After Ian arrived, they moved their gear to the site and we began filming. I seized a moment while Stephanie was using a Probe lens to capture this photo of her and Ceratiomyxa. We found a small grouping of Lycogala nearby, providing a second species for the documentary. Later in the day, we picked a quiet spot in the woods for the "interview" portion of the segment where Ian and Stephanie both grilled me with questions about slime molds and my interest in them. Today, we resume our search in a different spot. Wish us luck!

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