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What is a Slime Mold?
Despite what the common name suggests, slime mold is not a type of mold. And even though mature fruiting bodies often resemble tiny mushrooms, they're not fungi either (although they were once classified as such). But if we look beyond the superficial, it turns out that slime molds start out as single-celled organisms, like amoebas, and are more accurately placed in the Protista kingdom. True slime molds are formally known as Myxomycetes, though some enthusiasts (including yours truly) lovingly refer to them as "myxos" for short.
While "mold" is certainly a misnomer, "slime" is actually quite apt - at least for the plasmodial stage. During this time, the gooey life form pulses and slides along as it feeds upon microorganisms and generally resembles something out of an old horror B-movie. When conditions are suitable, the unicellular plasmodium will transform into one or more multicellular fruiting bodies. And that's when myxos are arguably the most fascinating, or at least the most beautiful. Anyone who has observed one of these amazing structures up close would surely admit it's far prettier than the name "slime mold" would imply.
Actually seeing one of these beauties up close is the hard part, though; many myxos are only about 1.5mm tall! If millimeters aren't your thing, that's about the thickness (not length) of a grain of rice. A large colony of brightly colored fruiting bodies is easy enough to find, especially if you're already inspecting the underside of a damp log with an illuminated magnifying glass (c'mon, who doesn't do that?), but be aware that high-powered optics are going to be necessary to truly get a good look at the intricate details of these tiny treasures. For those who are tenacious enough to lug around the required equipment and willing to undergo embarrassingly awkward contortions, my hat is off to you. To everyone else who is tired of reading and just wants to see some pretty pictures, I invite you to explore these marvelous myxos. Cheers!
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All pictures copyright Timothy Boomer. All rights reserved worldwide.