Fuligo septica (L.) F.H.Wigg

Slime mold

About plant names...

This slime mold has some pretty unsavory names, like dog vomit, but it is commonplace in damp weather, on rotting leaves, wood and in bark mulch. It munches on fungal spores, bacteria, and other microbes. Slime mold is pretty amazing stuff. It is a “eukaryotic microbe”—a giant, single-celled organism, one of more than 30,000 species.

Identification: The bright yellow, jellylike slime, which seems to appear out of nowhere after wet weather, is conspicuous and hard to confuse. Photo 22 shows it in a hard, crusty phase, with a white powdery top. In photo 11, it is in its dormant, dried out phase. This looks a bit like soil, but it is a fine powder which explodes like a smoke bomb if you step on it.

Edibility: Just kidding.

I took a time lapse movie of this slime mold, atop some decaying bark mulch. It appeared to be dormant for most of the several hours, but in this segment, covering about 15-20 minutes, it seems to come alive like a creature from the Twi­light Zone:

(Or see it larger here .)

Online References:

Fuligo septica on troutsnotes.com

Fuligo septica on Wayne's Word

1 · 9/5/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 4½ × 7" (11 × 17 cm)

2 · 8/22/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 11 × 7" (27 × 18 cm)

3 · 6/16/2012 · Groton Place and Sabine Woods, Groton, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 4½ × 4½" (12 × 12 cm)

4 · 5/17/2010 · Wildlife Pond Loop Trail, Beaver Brook Association Conservation Lands, Hollis, New Hamp­shire
≈ 8 × 5" (19 × 13 cm) ID is uncertain

5 · 7/18/2011 · Sue and Rai’s ID is uncertain

6 · 7/3/2015 · Squannacook River Wildlife Area, Townsend, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 3½ × 4" (8.6 × 10 cm)

7 · 6/20/2007 · Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 9 × 6" (22 × 15 cm)

8 · It looks like the slime mold altered the development of the mushroom. · 7/12/2013 · Wooden Bridge, East Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 6 × 5" (14 × 13 cm)

Fuligo septica description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 25 May 2020.

© FloraFinder.org. All rights reserved.

9 · 6/20/2007 · Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 15 × 10" (37 × 24 cm)

10 · 7/18/2011 · Sue and Rai’s ID is uncertain

11 · 8/22/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 5 × 3½" (13 × 9.2 cm)

12 · 8/26/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 5 × 3½" (13 × 9.2 cm)

13 · 7/18/2011 · Sue and Rai’s ID is uncertain

14 · 9/5/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 5 × 4" (12 × 9.9 cm)

15 · 7/21/2020 · Cathance River Nature Preserve Trails, Highland Green, Topsham, Maine
≈ 6 × 5" (14 × 13 cm)

16 · After it starts to dry out. · 8/28/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 8 × 5" (19 × 13 cm) ID is uncertain

17 · 6/21/2007 · Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 17 × 11" (42 × 28 cm)

18 · 7/22/2012 · Wapack Trail, Pack Monadnock, Peterborough, New Hamp­shire
≈ 14 × 9" (35 × 23 cm)

19 · 8/22/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 3 × 4½" (7.9 × 11 cm)

20 · 8/20/2009 · Tom & Susan’s, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 17 × 12" (44 × 29 cm)

21 · 9/5/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 5 × 4½" (13 × 11 cm)

22 · 10/5/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 9 × 6" (22 × 15 cm)