Friday, July 18, 2008

mould

4 comments:

Jeope said...

Vile!

Ariel Gordon said...

Actually, it was sort of lovely...

According to a site on slime moulds, it is "Fuligo septica, a large slime mold in the order Physarales. In urbanized areas it is usually found growing on bark chips which it digests for a carbon source. Like Physarum, the plasmodium consists of a multinucleate mass of protoplasm that is not differentiated into cells. It moves like an amoeba, the protoplasm streaming internally in one direction and then in another. The yellowish, bile-colored plasmodium is the origin of the uncomplimentary name "dog vomit slime mold." The slimy plasmodium develops into a thicker, lime encrusted mass which is essentially the spore-bearing stage (fructification) called the aethalium."

Jeope said...

I have a fear of mould. Ask Kerry, she'll tell you.

Brenda Schmidt said...

Nifty!