My wife has been fascinated by some weird structures that have been appearing overnight in fields all month and wondered what they are.
From a distance it could be animal vomit, then on closer inspection it looks as if clusters of eggs have been deposited up the grass stems.
It starts off bright yellow, then fades over a day or two to something very reminiscent of school Tapioca pudding. After a few more days all has turned black.
A few hours searching suggests this is neither animal, plant nor fungi, I think it is a single celled organism Mucilago crustacea.
I have struggled to find more than an odd paragraph and would certainly appreciate it if anyone can point me where to look to learn more about it.
It is something I have occasionally seen some other years, though never anything like as prolific as this autumn.
Has this exceptionally warm October produced an abundance of anything unusual where you live?
From a distance it could be animal vomit, then on closer inspection it looks as if clusters of eggs have been deposited up the grass stems.
It starts off bright yellow, then fades over a day or two to something very reminiscent of school Tapioca pudding. After a few more days all has turned black.
A few hours searching suggests this is neither animal, plant nor fungi, I think it is a single celled organism Mucilago crustacea.
I have struggled to find more than an odd paragraph and would certainly appreciate it if anyone can point me where to look to learn more about it.
It is something I have occasionally seen some other years, though never anything like as prolific as this autumn.
Has this exceptionally warm October produced an abundance of anything unusual where you live?
