Mystery Formation on Grass (1 Viewer)

rogerscoth · Jul 20, 2004

Firstly, I am not sure if this the correct category to include this thread, but it seemed the closest out of all the options.
Can anyone identify this formation (pics. below) that appears overnight in small patches on my small lawn grass in the (south facing) back garden.
Is it a fungi or maybe lichen? It starts off as bright yellow, then turns to grey within a few hours.

Roger

Michael Frankis · Jul 20, 2004

Some sort of fungal disease, don't know what, but it is strange that it is attacking both grass and daisy leaves (most fungal diseases only attack a single host species)

Michael

Edit - sorry, not daisy, but definitely a broadleaf lawn plant, not another grass

Leif · Jul 20, 2004

rogerscoth said:
Firstly, I am not sure if this the correct category to include this thread, but it seemed the closest out of all the options.
Can anyone identify this formation (pics. below) that appears overnight in small patches on my small lawn grass in the (south facing) back garden.
Is it a fungi or maybe lichen? It starts off as bright yellow, then turns to grey within a few hours.

Roger

It's a slime mould! I might be able to locate the species this evening. There are many different species. One common species appears as a white bump on a tree. about 1-2" diameter It has a thin skin and a squishy interior. Pink balls of Lycogala epidendrum are also common. The Latin generic Lycogala means Wolf's Milk. (Goodness knows why Wolf was chosen. Many puffs balls are in the genus Lycoperdon which means Wolf's Fart. Odd. Even in Italian the puffball is commonly known as Wolf's Fart!)

very boring banned member · Jul 20, 2004

This is not a disease but some Myxomycetes species.

Leif · Jul 20, 2004

Karwin said:
This is not a disease but some Myxomycetes species.

Myxomycetes are (IIRC) classed as fungi so this is indeed the correct forum.

Michael Frankis · Jul 20, 2004

And they're also causing a disease on those plants!

Michael

very boring banned member · Jul 20, 2004

These Myxomycetes climb on any grasses during late summer; often also dead wood stumps. Their purpose in there is to produce spores in few hours, during which their colour changes from usually bright slimy yellows and reds into dull dusty black or grey.

Michael Frankis · Jul 20, 2004

Karwin said:
These Myxomycetes climb on any grasses during late summer; often also dead wood stumps. Their purpose in there is to produce spores in few hours, during which their colour changes from usually bright slimy yellows and reds into dull dusty black or grey.

Meaning they only use it for support, not deriving any sustenance from the plants? - in which case, where do they get their energy from?

Michael

very boring banned member · Jul 20, 2004

Michael Frankis said:
Meaning they only use it for support, not deriving any sustenance from the plants? - in which case, where do they get their energy from?

Michael

From decaying organic matter. What is in the pictures shows the homestretch of these jolly fellas.

rogerscoth · Jul 20, 2004

Thanks for your replies. These formations have appeared where I have spread bird seed for ground feeders, hence the broad-leaved plants that have grown in the grass. The grass is over-due for cutting.
Does anyone know if this is detrimental to the feeding birds health, and can I or should I do anything to eradicate the "problem". Should I just leave it to nature to fade away eventually?

Roger

Tero · Jul 20, 2004

Looks like something that landed here, from Men in Black. Watch out it that it does not shift shapes and become animal instead of fungal.

Leif · Jul 20, 2004

rogerscoth said:
Thanks for your replies. These formations have appeared where I have spread bird seed for ground feeders, hence the broad-leaved plants that have grown in the grass. The grass is over-due for cutting.
Does anyone know if this is detrimental to the feeding birds health, and can I or should I do anything to eradicate the "problem". Should I just leave it to nature to fade away eventually?

Roger

According to my reference book, The Encyclopedia of Fungi of Great Britain and Europe by Michael Jordan, slime moulds, or myxomycetes, are a primitive fungi that mostly feed on dead or rotten wood. As far as I know they are harmless and I doubt they will poison the birds. It has probably appeared due to the wet and warm weather. If you are concerned then you can probably just wash it off by watering the grass. Probably best to wash it off in the morning so the grass can dry in the day time. Slime moulds are usually fairly delicate structures.

The one in your picture could be Mucilago crustacea. I have seen something like it on many occasions.

Incidentally all fungi belong to the Fungi Kingdom as opposed to the Plant Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom. One division of the fungi kingdom is the Myxomycota which includes slime moulds. Other fungi including all mushrooms are in another division called the Eumycota. So best not to make a slime mould omelette.

Most of my books ignore myxomycetes. Perhaps they are too yucky even for mycologists?

very boring banned member · Jul 21, 2004

Leif said:
The one in your picture could be Mucilago crustacea. I have seen something like it on many occasions.

It's stages & behaviour look mucilagoish, though the first picture is very yellow (M. crustacea usually is whitish), but then again on other species colour ranges from white via yellow to red have been documented. Their colour and shape changes quickly when they are getting mature. Here's a link to british Myxomycetes image gallery: http://www.bioimages.org.uk/HTML/T74253.HTM

Leif said:
If you are concerned then you can probably just wash it off by watering the grass. Probably best to wash it off in the morning so the grass can dry in the day time. Slime moulds are usually fairly delicate structures.

When mature, they get dry and release microscopic spores in air. I guess they cold be also just raked away then.

Leif said:
Incidentally all fungi belong to the Fungi Kingdom as opposed to the Plant Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom. One division of the fungi kingdom is the Myxomycota which includes slime moulds. Other fungi including all mushrooms are in another division called the Eumycota.

The higher level we go on classification, the more messy they are ("species" being the only category with exact definition). Many scientists dump Myxomycetes in kingdom Protoctista with Algae and other things, that are difficult to categorise... and Lichenes are included in Fungi; they consist of Algae & Fungi cells (so long for the exact species definition

).

rogerscoth · Jul 21, 2004

I have done a "Google" search on Myxomycetes and there is a website :-
www.plant.uga.edu/mycology-herbarium/myxogal.htm - showing -
(USA) Georgia Museum of Natural History, Photo Gallery of Myxomycetes.
The nearest I could identify to was Leocarpus fragilis . Can anyone confirm this assumption?
(Warning! the website takes some time to download, even with broadband)

Roger

very boring banned member · Jul 21, 2004

rogerscoth said:
The nearest I could identify to was Leocarpus fragilis . Can anyone confirm this assumption?
(Warning! the website takes some time to download, even with broadband)

Roger

Immature colour fits better than Mucilago... Due to their spore-based spreading habits Myxomycetes tend to be cosmopolite... things. This webpage from New Zealand gives a good view on them: http://www.hiddenforest.co.nz/slime/index.htm

Leif · Jul 21, 2004

Karwin said:
It's stages & behaviour look mucilagoish, though the first picture is very yellow (M. crustacea usually is whitish), but then again on other species colour ranges from white via yellow to red have been documented. Their colour and shape changes quickly when they are getting mature. Here's a link to british Myxomycetes image gallery: http://www.bioimages.org.uk/HTML/T74253.HTM

Ooops. Ignore my suggested id. For some reason after looking at the picture I assumed it was white.

rogerscoth · Jul 21, 2004

Leif said:
Ooops. Ignore my suggested id. For some reason after looking at the picture I assumed it was white.

Apologies Leif for not applying proper identification descriptions to the pictures.
I should have made it clearer by saying that the left hand picture was the slime mould in it's fresh state, and the picture on the right after it had matured (as Karwin said, it happens quickly) into it's pre-spore spreading state.

Roger

Leif · Jul 21, 2004

rogerscoth said:
Apologies Leif for not applying proper identification descriptions to the pictures.
I should have made it clearer by saying that the left hand picture was the slime mould in it's fresh state, and the picture on the right after it had matured (as Karwin said, it happens quickly) into it's pre-spore spreading state.

Roger

No need to apologise. I didn't put my brain into gear. It could also be Fuligo septica which I have seen often but is not really orange as per your picture.

I suspect there might be a market for a small field guide to slime moulds though I am not aware of any. (Lichens also have few field guides, apart from one I know of from the Richmond Publishing Company.)

very boring banned member · Jul 22, 2004

Leif said:
It could also be Fuligo septica which I have seen often but is not really orange as per your picture.

I suspect there might be a market for a small field guide to slime moulds though I am not aware of any. (Lichens also have few field guides, apart from one I know of from the Richmond Publishing Company.)

First picture looks like young Fuligo septica, but all those mature ones I have seen are more blackish. -The markets for Myxomycota field guide would be international, due to their cosmopoliteness? For personal use I have collected their pictures, printed in visiting card size, in a visiting card album.

Leif · Jul 22, 2004

Karwin said:
First picture looks like young Fuligo septica, but all those mature ones I have seen are more blackish. -The markets for Myxomycota field guide would be international, due to their cosmopoliteness? For personal use I have collected their pictures, printed in visiting card size, in a visiting card album.

Macrofungi show significant local variations depending on local climate and geography so I suspect that myxomycetes will be similarly diverse.

Oddly enough there are only about 5 species that I see. The pink balls (~1cm diameter), the white splodge (~4cm diameter), the amorphous white slime on grass, the yellow amorphous slime and the bundles of rods (about 1cm long, turning brown with age, stuck to wood by one end of the tubes). Sorry if my language is getting too technical. Don't s'pose you know that that last one is. It's the one slime mould that I would describe as beautiful to look at.

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