Thursday, June 3, 2021

Slime Mold Hunters


Day 233: The Oregon Field Guide team called it a wrap late yesterday afternoon after a full day of searching for slime molds in a half-mile stretch of trailless woods. Here, cinematographer Stephanie focuses a Probe lens on a colony of Tubifera ferruginosa while producer Ian checks her framing of the shot. We were able to add three more species to the documentary: Tubifera ferruginosa (the orange patches in the lower right of the image), Arcyria denudata and Trichia decipiens, the latter two also new to the species inventory of this property. We also found many more examples of Lycogala epidendrum and Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa. Our total of five species was more than I'd expected, and I don't know who was more delighted when both members of the crew made their own discoveries unassisted by me. Ian was a little disappointed that we failed to find the infamous and fairly common Fuligo septica. "I never thought I'd hear myself say this," he told me, laughing. "I really wanted to find Dog-vomit."

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