Slime mould ? for id please

[ashgale]

i found this on a stump of a felled conifer, the first pic shows it in situ on the side of the stump, while the second pic shows it after the camera toppled over onto it
there was also another one on top of the stump which was more like an Enteridium lycoperdon in shape, (low domed shape) but of the same texture and colours as the first one, but unfortunately this got splattered by the camera bag which i dropped while trying to catch the camera)





there were several other old dry specimens on other stumps nearby, which were very much like Enteridium lycoperdon in its final stages, (a dry dark brown powdery mass)
could this be an early stage of Enteridium lycoperdon ? , although i have found numerous other examples of E.lycoperdon in the past , none were like this one,
a lengthy search of the web failed to find any thing similar in appearance to it,

thanks, ashgale.

[Lancashire Lad]

By no means certain, but I would venture to say that this might have been one of the Stemonitis species.

I've seen similar looking specimens recently, (albeit whiteish rather than yellowish), and photographed them at different stages of growth.

The general apperance of the mould in your first photo seems to be similar to that in the first photo of my previous thread (note that my photo was taken with a supplementary close-up lens, so the individual sporocarps look much bigger): -

Stemonitis?

Regards,
Mike.

[ashgale]

Originally Posted by Lancashire Lad

By no means certain, but I would venture to say that this might have been one of the Stemonitis species.

I've seen similar looking specimens recently, (albeit whiteish rather than yellowish), and photographed them at different stages of growth.

The general apperance of the mould in your first photo seems to be similar to that in the first photo of my previous thread (note that my photo was taken with a supplementary close-up lens, so the individual sporocarps look much bigger): -

Stemonitis?

Regards,
Mike.

Hi Mike,
yes, it does look similar, but as Stemonitis is not one i have found yet, i dont know enough abut them to be able to say one way or the other

however, i did go back to the site this afternnoon, and after several hundred more stumps, and what felt like losing half a stone in perspiration i did find another one like the one i dropped the camera bag on,
it seemed to be in the process of forming a crust over the individual bodies, see 2nd pic, again similar to E.lycoperdon ,





having just spent the last couple of hours searching the web for something similar, i have drawn a blank once again,

thanks, ashgale.

p:s (during my searches, i came across the name Reticularia lycoperdon as the name for Enteridium lycoperdon, is this the accepted name now ??

[Lancashire Lad]

Hi Ashgale,

I think you may well be correct.
Funnily enough, I spotted a couple of very similar "clumps" of slime mould today in a local wood, and they had the pale yellow colouration that yours have.

They also had the oval shape that Enteridium lycoperdon seems to generally adopt when the dry outer crust forms. (There was also one separate example at the metallic silver crust stage, which I think was definitely E.lycoperdon).

I've seen quite a few lots of E.lycoperdon, but they have always been in the white blob, silver metallic, or dark brownish mature stage. - So I hadn't associated the yellowy stage as being the same species. (It might still not be ).

I probably won't get back to the site for a week or so, but will check when I do, to see if my yellowish examples have turned into recognisable E.lycoperdon.

The only other things that seemed to be about in any quantity today were Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa, and Fuligo septica.

Plus a few Pluteus cervinus, some very slug eaten Amanita excelsa var. spissa, and an odd one or two Amanita rubescens.

PS - Yes, Reticularia lycoperdon is apparently the new name for E.lycoperdon.

Regards,
Mike.

[stickman]

Hi all

This is definately not R.lycoperdon.
Mike is almost certainly right with Stemonitis sp, and I would maybe go one step further with the (rather brave) suggestion of Stemonitis flavogenita because of the lovely lemon yellow plasmodium & short stalks. Saying that, I would still want to confirm that with a microscope!

Cheers, Nick.

[ashgale]

Originally Posted by stickman

Hi all

This is definately not R.lycoperdon.
Mike is almost certainly right with Stemonitis sp, and I would maybe go one step further with the (rather brave) suggestion of Stemonitis flavogenita because of the lovely lemon yellow plasmodium & short stalks. Saying that, I would still want to confirm that with a microscope!

Cheers, Nick.

Hi Nick,
many thanks for the info, as it is something i have not found previously, and all the photos i can find show (preumably) the later stages of it, i would never have connected the two as being the same thing,
as you say, without a closer examination to confirm it, i will have to label it as Stemonitis sp probably,
and thanks also to Mike for his original theory on this one,

from the outset, i had thought this was too different from R.lycoperdon, but was beginning to convince myself that was what it actually was, thank goodness for W.A.B and its very knowledgeable members

ashgale.