psmv6: Vomit

On a chance visit to the compost heap at the top of the garden yesterday afternoon, I encountered a new-to-me version of the dog vomit fungus which appears from time to time. Much more plant-like in appearance, rather than the usual puddle of custard.

Another snap.

A zoom on the lefty leaf of the first snap.Growth patterns I had not seen before. I associated to a snow flake.

Google Images agrees, while pointing out that it is not really a fungus, despite its common name, rather a slime mold.

I have a feeling that I once thought that slime molds were something I ought to take a look at, without ever getting around to it. Whatever the case, they seem to have been around for getting on for twenty years, having first been identified by a correspondent from Cambridge.

Taking a quick peek at the appropriate part of the archive, I find that slime molds are of interest to people who study networks and to people who study communications between cells. It seems that slime molds are sufficiently primitive not to have the gap junctions which do lots of heavy lifting in that department in our own cells - but they still manage complex, multicellular networks. Perhaps I shall make a start with reference 5.

PS: the mold snaps above were taken around 17:45 yesterday afternoon, that is to say Saturday afternoon. By 11:30 this morning the scene had completely changed, as snapped above and zoomed below. It was lucky that I had caught it when I did.