Vertical Vomit

Day 333: Myxomycetologists disdain the use of common names for slime molds since they are not standardized as they are for many vascular plants. If you will forgive a momentary sidebar, a similar attitude is prevalent in the field of lichenology and although I find some lichen common names to be amusing, they create confusion between eastern and western species. In the matter of slime molds, however, one has to wonder exactly who was given the privilege of assigning certain epithets. Some of us are inclined to believe that the job may have been given to the researcher's pre-pubescent son in the case of "Dog-vomit." Fuligo septica deserves better. It is a very common slime mold, particularly here in our Pacific Northwest forests, and is usually first observed as a yellowish-white or yellow mass which looks...well, if not perhaps like dog-vomit, but something pretty nasty. In point of fact, Fuligo is exercising its role in the cycle of life as a decomposer. It feeds on the bacteria present in rotting wood. "Fuligo" derives from a Latin word meaning "soot," and refers to a later stage in its development when the mass turns black. It is not toxic, although its spores can cause allergic reactions in those susceptibe to them. It can achieve impressive size, purportedly capable of covering several square yards although this specimen of "vertical vomit" is the largest I've personally observed.