The wet and cool conditions in the woods are ideal for all sorts of strange things in the woods. This week I came across some very cool slime mould at Miracle Beach Provincial Park. Because they are small, slime moulds are often overlooked. However, their weird appearance usually results in a double-take. What is that strange thing? In addition, slime moulds come in a range of different colours. Some are bright yellow which is hard to miss!
What is a Slime Mould?
Slime moulds have a weird combination of both fungi and animal characteristics. Like animals, they are capable of locomotion and are free living. CBC Radio’s Quirks and Quarks had two short clips on the decision making ability of these unicelular animals that was quite interesting. Listen to them here (scroll down the pages to the clip):
Slime molds reproduce by forming fruiting bodies like fungi that produce spores. Because they don’t really clearly fit in either category, they are placed in their own group called Myxomycetes. This Greek name means myxa (slime) and mycetes (fungi). Around 700 species of myxomycetes have been described worldwide. They have a texture that is soft and spongy.
Keep an eye open for these bizarre and beautiful organisms the next time you go for a walk in the woods. I usually find them in old growth and well established second growth forests that are fairly dark and damp. Try to track their progress over the forest floor and decaying wood. Once you make an effort, you will see slime moulds everywhere!
I love slime mold. A friend who knows the author of the Audubon Guide to Mushrooms (which includes slime molds, even though they’re not fungi) says they had to make up a bunch of common names for species that only had latin names…so they went with a food theme. Chocolate tube slime mold anyone? Others include scrambled-egg slime, raspberry slime, carnival-candy slime… you get the idea.
wow..that is some wierd slime mold..very cool color!
Thanks Dawn – I’ve got a really brilliant yellow one from Stathcona Provincial Park as well that Jocie used for a slime mould article. Will be posting that on http://IslandNature.ca sometime this month.
I’d love to see a raspberry coloured slime mould – that would be very cool! The interesting thing is that I’ve been back through that stretch of forest at Miracle Beach a couple of times since posting this and I’ve seen parts of the slime in the same area. It is a really cool organism and I love finding it.