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Nostoc commune
This weird black fungus-like stuff was found in the interior patio of a Church Convent. It looks like a cow had diarrhea or small patches of petroleum. It seems to appear in the rainy season and by October it seemed to be dead. It looks wet, but was dry and very thin like a piece of plastic and pulls up all in one piece. It had no perceptible odor. More weeds seem to come up in the spots where this stuff occurs. Nostoc commune can fix nitrogen and is thus an aid to other plants.
Rocky interior patio of the Convent of La Merced in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, 2,200 meters.
Pictures 1 and 2 are the top side, pictures 3 and 4 are the underside. The 5th picture shows the patio of the Convent showing the patches of fungus. This is probably a Cyanobacteria, Nostoc commune (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostoc_comm...). See also this spotting: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/421....
Spotted on Oct 10, 2012
Submitted on Oct 22, 2012
3 Comments
Happy to help. :)
Thank you so much Laura. You helped me solve a two-year mystery!
Could very well be, in its dried-out phase. From Wikipedia: "When wet, Nostoc commune is bluish-green, olive green or brown but in dry conditions it becomes an inconspicuous, crisp brownish mat."