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Since discovering the fascinating realm of slime molds several years ago, one genus has been on my Bucket List: Stemonitis. The distinguishing feature of these elegant slimes is the long, slender sporangia which develop at the end of thread-like stalks. The sporangia group together in clusters, a characteristic which has given rise to one common name of "tree hair," although that name can also be applied to certain lichens and mosses.
I've been hunting Stemonitis for some time, not knowing what type of habitat it preferred other than rotting wood. There's plenty of rotting wood in our Pacific Northwest forests, but apparently it has to reach a certain state of decay before Stemonitis deems it worth consuming, and each species within the genus has specific preferences for type of wood. With no more clues than that, I set out to investigate rotten wood until I either found a Stemonitis or ran out of forest. I was almost back to the point where a private property line compels me to return to pavement when I decided to take a small and very brushy detour. I was about ready to abandon my jungle-commando search when something pinkish caught my eye from about twenty feet away. It could have been any number of common things: a fungus, a bit of blush-tint wood, a trick of the light, but I couldn't leave without checking. Lo and behold, when I reached it and bent over..."Stemonitis!" You could have heard my whoop in Tacoma. That said, without examination of its micoscopic features, it is impossible to tell whether this is S. fusca (which I suspect), S. axifera or S. splendens. All three are macroscopically similar and are known from this area.
I don't need furs or diamonds. I don't need a hot car or a European vacation. Just give me a new slime mold or a plant I've never seen before, and I'm happy as Larry. Simple pleasures for a simple mind.
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