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Project Noah Nature School
Stemonitis sp.
Slime Mold. This is its fruiting stage, tall brown sporangia, where it creates a stalk, and a weaved sac (capillitium), that contains tiny spores. The germinating amoeboid gamete spores fuse into zygotes becoming a crawling and sprawling plasmodium slime, that later produces more spore filled sacs. They consume decomposing matter, like dead wood and leaves. On the tree of life, being neither a plant or an animal, molds are in the kingdom Protista. Identification within the genus is difficult, and can only be performed with confidence using a microscope. It could be S. auxifera, S. fusca o S. splendens
Spotted on a rotting fallen oak branch.
Camera Model: NIKON D300. Exposure Time: 1/60 sec.; f/25; ISO Speed Rating: 200. Focal Length: 90.0 mm. Flash fired
Spotted on Aug 13, 2012
Submitted on Oct 5, 2012
3 Comments
Added to "Slime Molds" mission
Thanks Argy Bee
Superb example and shots Arlanda.