Physarum viride

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Physarum viride
Physarum viride

Slime moulds are saprobic organisms (i.e. they gain their nutrients by breaking down dead organic matter) that spend most of their life cycle feeding as separate amoeboid cells or disaggregated plasmodium. However, when conditions become right all the cells or plasmodium near each other will stream together to form a fungus-like fruiting body that releases spores. Because slime moulds thus resemble protozoa for part of their life cycle but fungi at other times, they were an early protagonist in the destruction of the idea that all organisms could be divided between plants and animals. Slime moulds, it turns out, are mostly not related to plants or animals. It has become clear that not all slime moulds are even related to other slime moulds. Instead, the term has been used to cover a number of phylogenetically disparate organisms with little in common other than similar life cycles (Source: Christopher Taylor). After some initial success, I had a long dry spell finding more slime moulds until yesterday when I found this one living on a dead branch on the forest floor. The fruiting bodies consist of stalked sporangia. In Physarum viride the sporangia are nodding, 0.3 to 0.5 mm (less than 0.02 inch) diam. with innate clusters of yellow lime-granules. At maturity the shell like covering breaks open and releases the spores.

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Taken on: August 8, 2022
Tags: Everybody's photos tagged with Myxogastrea Myxogastrea Everybody's photos tagged with Myxomycetes Myxomycetes Everybody's photos tagged with Physarum Physarum more » Everybody's photos tagged with Physarum viride Physarum viride Everybody's photos tagged with fruiting body fruiting body Everybody's photos tagged with slime mould slime mould Everybody's photos tagged with sporangium sporangium Everybody's photos tagged with sporotheca sporotheca Everybody's photos tagged with yellow yellow « less
Sets appears in:   • New Zealand Fungi, Lichen & Slime Moulds   
Groups appears in:   • Mushrooms    • Flickr Nature    more » • Olympus Users    • Awesome Nature    • Beauty of Nature    • The World Up-Close (Nature Macro)    • Slime Molds    • Natural PATTERNS, Shapes, and Textures (curated)    • The New Zealand Photographers Group    • Macro! Macro!! Macro!!!    • Pictures of MYXOMYCETES mushrooms, slime molds.    • Forest & Bird - New Zealand Nature    • Zuiko Macro Lens Users Group (Nature Only)    • Macro & Close up Photography    • Macro in nature    • Nature focus    • Temperate Rainforest    • all the little details    « less
Camera: Olympus E-M10MarkIV, f/9.0, 1/60 sec, 30mm (=60mm), ISO 5000 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Olympus E-M10MarkIV
Lens: OLYMPUS M.30mm F3.5 Macro
Aperture: f/9.0
Exposure Time: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Focal Length: 30mm (35mm equivalent: 60mm)
ISO: 5000
Exposure Bias: -1 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program: Creative (Slow speed)
Exposure Mode: Manual
Metering Mode: Multi-segment
White Balance: Auto
Gain Control: High gain up
Color Space: sRGB
Software: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 11.3 (Macintosh)
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