- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
Anyone know which slime moulds these are? (I think they are all Slime moulds) Just noticed my Collins has a few myxos) Perhaps Fuligo septica for the yellow ones? and Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa for the white tubes?
[attachment=3]P1100697-001.JPG[/attachment] 
[attachment=4]P1100697.JPG[/attachment] 
[attachment=2]P1100706.JPG[/attachment] 
[attachment=1]P1100720.JPG[/attachment] 
[attachment=0]P1100721.JPG[/attachment] Hi Adam, Great photos!
Yes,
Fuligo septica. (The final shot is typical Fuligo septicathat’s a little bit “gone-over” and dry). I was about to say yes to
Ceratiomyxa fruticulosatoo – but something about your shot seems slightly odd, in that all of the individual finger like projections seem to be perfectly tubular, with no visible “forking”, and quite a few showing a tiny black dot at the top – almost like the top of a columella. Either you happened to find a very “symmetrical” looking example, or it is something else. (I’m tempted to suggest it might be something like
Stemonitopsis typhina(during its white stage), when viewed from the top – but I’ve never seen S.typhinain anything like such a large tight cluster). EDIT– having just Googled for pics. – I’m now convinced that you have an unusually large and tight cluster of Stemonitopsis typhinain its white stage. (A good field ID characteristic is that S.typhinahas black stems, visible through the peridium, and these black stems have what are generally described as “silk stockings” covering them – Google for pics and you’ll see what I mean). EDIT 2– I might be double bluffing myself here – but the more I look at the photo the more I’m thinking it could also be Henningsomyces candidus. It has the right general sort of look, but the tubes seem to be rather on the long side. Can you recall if they had black stems – in which case
S.typhinastill looks good, or were the tubes “sessile” attached directly to the substrate?. I’ve attached a few of my
C.fruticulasapics below, so that you can get an idea of the differences I’m trying to explain: – 
[attachment=2]Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa.jpg[/attachment] 
[attachment=1]Ceratiomyxa fructiculosa.jpg[/attachment] 
[attachment=0]Ceratiomyxa fructiculosa (2).jpg[/attachment] Regards,
Mike.
They are actually hollow tubes. Overnight they’ve gone over a bit, but here is a poor resolution photo I took yesterday with my usb microscope but it shows the hollow tubes with a powdery/fuzzy coating. There is no branching at all. Tempted to get the “Myxomycetes: Handbook of Slime Molds (Hardcover) ” as although it “only” has 175 species, that is still 161 more than my Collins 
fwiw the usb microscope has better depth of field than the low power (X40) on my compound microscope. I think if I’d bought a better USB micropscope, the resolution would be better too.
Hi, Having now seen these pics.
Henningsomyces candiduswould be my final answer! Nice find – I’ve looked for it several times but haven’t managed to find it yet. (Usually on underside of damp rotting wood laid on the ground from what I’ve read).
PS – If you can find a hardcover copy of Myxomycetes A Handbook of Slime Molds by Stephenson & Stempen at reasonable cost, then grab it!
I have the paperback reissue – but all of the illustrations in that version are in black and white – which seriously detracts from its usefulness.
Although, with only limited species included, there’s a lot of stuff that’s not covered either way!
Regards,
Mike.
Out on Forays we have found what we think is C.fructulosa often but perhaps we should be more careful with id! Often turning dead logs to look for Myxos! Just been having a look in Funga Nordica (2012 version) and Henningsomycesgenera in Britain also includes H.puber, which could well be a contender here, as macroscopically it is longer, (up to 3mm – as opposed to 1mm), and it tends to grow in larger clusters! Obviously, would need careful checking of all of the microscopic characters to be sure – but it would be a very good find indeed if it was – only 4 records for
H.puberon FRDBI as opposed to 333 for H.candidus. Regards,
Mike.
Some microscopy – I haven’t much idea what any of this is, although the pin-shaped blobs remind me of sporangia, so perhaps it is being attacked by something. There was at least one nematode crawling around. The big spores that are everywheremeasures 9-11 x 8-9µm 
[attachment=6]P1100753.JPG[/attachment] 
[attachment=5]P1100755.JPG[/attachment] 
[attachment=4]P1100756.JPG[/attachment] 
[attachment=3]P1100757.JPG[/attachment] 
[attachment=2]P1100759.JPG[/attachment] 
[attachment=1]P1100761.JPG[/attachment] 
[attachment=0]P1100763.JPG[/attachment] Hi Adam, I can’t offer too much advice, since, as I said, I’ve not yet found any
Henningsomycesmyself. Do you have Funga Nordica? – if so it’s on page 312.
The spores shown can’t be from a
Henningsomycesthough (if your measurements are correct). H.candidushas spores 4.5-6 x 4-5µ, and H.puberhas spores 4-6.5 x 4-5.5µ (Spores from both species being sub-globose to broadly ellipsoid / pyriform. There is mention of hairs around the margin resembling trees with stiff upright short branches. (but no mention of them being black?).
H.candidushaving abundant irregular hyaline crystals the size of the basidia, and H.pubernot having those crystals. I haven’t been able to find much else in the way of useful info on the net.
Maybe Chris will be able to expand on this when he sees the thread?
Regards,
Mike.
Thanks Mike. Although this is fascinating to look at, it is (as Mark would say) black magic! or my choice would be “dark arts” The spore size I gave is correct (although I only measured a small sample, been a long day), they seem quite large and a bit odd. I think the specimen is still my Myxo, Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa or something close.
From
http://www.bcrc.firdi.org.tw/fungi/fungal_detail.jsp?id=FU200802090046 ” class=”bbcode_url”> http://www.bcrc.firdi.org.tw/fungi/fungal_detail.jsp?id=FU200802090046 Quote:Description： Fructifications sessile, honeycomb like, white. Spores borne individually on slender stipes, colorless by transmitted light, ovoid to eliptical, 5-7 × 9-10 μm in diameter, varying in few to subglobose or globose, then 6-7 μm in diameter.
Hi Adam, Well, if it’s
C.fruticulosa, it’s certainly not typical! 
It is exceptionally common hereabouts – I’ve seen it hundreds of times.
I can say with hand on heart that I’ve never yet seen it without the “fingers” being obviously branched.
Regards,
Mike.
Maybe it’s a closely related species. According to Wikipedia, there are 4 in the genus (although that’s worldwide). The “thing” has the look of a myxo, as in a solid “blob.” The Henningsomyces photos I’ve looked at appear to be discrete, separate tubes sprouting from the wood. Presumably the mycelium is growing in the wood, and the fruitbodies sprout from points on the mycelium. In the case of Myxos, the organism “flows” in one blob
Hi Adam, It does like the Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa that I see. The stand-out feature is that the spores are borne on the outside of the fingers on small protusions.
close up.
[attachment=0]Ceratiomyxa_fruticulosa_bb.jpg[/attachment] Cheers, Dave. Do you have any good literature on myxomycetes? It seems the lack of branching is unusual, but all other feature fit. From the page I linked, it sounds like even varieties of the same species are quite different. The spores are singly borne on stalks, appearing ike mycena pin mould. That’s what made me think it was contaminated
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.