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Project Noah Nature School
Tiny (3mm across) white matrix, soft, rubbery, foam-like.. some bubbles possible (pic 3)
On the trunk of a very large smooth bark eucalyptus in a local nature reserve.
No idea what this is. Slime molds are precluded due to conditions - very hot and dry air in the middle of Australian summer.
All suggestions welcome.
Spotted on Jan 5, 2022
Submitted on Jan 19, 2022
9 Comments
Thanks wanderer. We often find Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa in our area at different times in the year and I've posted several spottings of it.
As I said though location, conditions and form have it at the bottom of my list at the moment.
I would give Jae's suggestion a closer look, even though the conditions doesn't suggest that it could be a fungi, it doesn't mean that nature can't make a mistake from time to time. Or maybe it wasn't a mistake? For me it looks like the fruiting bodies collapsed on itself after being exposed to heat and drought that tells the fungi to wait with reproduction. It could be that fungi do this often without us noticing, just to test the air or condition for making spores. Just a hypothesis...and I'm probably wrong :)
Wow, Mark!. That is a very interesting spotting. And so small. You've good eyes! :)
Mystery, indeed !
Thanks for the comments peoples. I forgot to draw attention to the 'net like' structures which doesn't happen much in either myxos or mycos.
Both life forms are highly seasonal anyway and our hot dry summer is the least likely time of year for either.
Clavulina cristata not in Australia and mycorrhizal. Tremella is parasitic on Stereum which would not be present in this (super healthy) tree.
I'm sort of leaning towards some sort of egg mass with that foamy and bubbly nature.
Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa perhaps?
Clavulina cristata?
Wow - indeed strange stuff. How about Tremella fungi? I stumbled upon this site: https://ultimate-mushroom.com/edible/15-...
Mysterious indeed. Cool find, Mark.