Slime Mold (Stemonitis fusca)

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Photo by Christine Y.

Published on Project Noah

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41.5867, -73.4118

Field Notes

Description:

Stemonitis fruits in clusters on dead wood and has tall reddish-brown sporangia supported on slender black stalks with a total height of approximately 6–20 mm tall. The tufts of the fruiting bodies are hair-like in appearance.

Habitat:

Spotted growing on a fallen, rotting tree along a nature trail at Greenwich Audubon. The vegetative stage in the life cycle of this organism feeds upon the bacteria associated with decaying plant material.