It's the fruiting body of a slime mold. A strange thing that apparently is something both fungal and animal or maybe neither.
Whatever it is, it seems to be benign and I'll just let it do its thing.
If you would like to read more about them, here's a great blog post that I found through a google search.
that is so neat looking. I love fungi!
ReplyDeleteI'm fascinated by them too! They come in so many interesting forms and colors.
ReplyDeleteNice color and texture, Michelle.
ReplyDeleteChandramouli, let's thank Mother Nature for that! I just took the photo ;)
ReplyDeleteEeeewww! Cool.
ReplyDeleteYowzah! This is on the list of things I don't want to be reincarnated as.
ReplyDeleteYour intriguing post settles a burning issue for me--I will indeed start a Fungus Friday (to go with Wordless Wednesday and Gardener's Bloom Day).
Great color! Wish I could have one too!
ReplyDeleteHow weird!
ReplyDeleteThat is just blatantly cool! It's a shame it's not edible; it could make quite the impression.
ReplyDeletewill it consume the woodpile, the house and the world? At least it'd be pretty while it did it!
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ReplyDeleteThat's amazing! It looks like sponge.
ReplyDeleteSusan, it is an icky but cool thing!
ReplyDeleteDaffodil, Fungus Friday! What a fabulous feature for us fearless flora ... bloggers :)
Town Mouse, maybe you already have one lurking somewhere... (cue the sound track for The Twilight Zone)
Jan, wonderfully weird!
Ang, LOL, I can hear it now "todays special is slime mold...." Oooh Aaah!
Prue, I did read that it can kill plants by covering them!
Karen, that knowledge came out of the deep dark recesses of my memory, probably acquired back in my days as a Master Gardener. After it blooms, it dries out and ends up looking like a dried meringue (leave it to me to think of a food metaphor).
Chaiselongue, it may look like a sponge but the texture is closer to whipped cream. I'll stick to the food metaphors, I could have compared it to something else goopy but it doesn't smell bad like that other stuff. I learned first hand when I accidentally kneeled in a patch of it!
I really love slime molds! Fuligo septica (scrambled egg slime) is one of the most common and it sometimes gets out of hand like yours was trying to. I have a small collection of pix of various ones. Love your blog!
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