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RE: The Amateur Mycologist #35 - Update - Likely Licea variabilis Slimemold! Morphological Transformation Caught On Time Lapse - In Depth Analysis
These fungi really morph quickly from one stage to the other. I just wonder how long the slime mold you were examining at first can remain extant on a piece of old bark.
These certainly transformed very quickly - so far, I don't actually think I've seen a confirmed slime mold on any of my moist chamber barks - this one, even though it looks slimy, is probably a fungus as well.
However, the question remains pertinent - the fruiting bodies of both slime molds and fungi can sometimes last for very long periods of time - with some species many many months. These guys are quite small and in a fairly controlled environment, so I would think there will be evidence of them on the bark for the foreseeable future.
Interesting. I know little about fungi but I thought that most of them are extant for a very limited time (2 weeks at the most). In the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles were I was born, I would see only two varieties: a slimy brownish colored mold specimen that grew on decayed trees and a white mushroom with a white cap with brown streaks on it; the latter seemed to go away as soon as it appeared.
There's a fair amount of variety in terms of how long the fruiting body lasts - many more conventional looking fungi only last a short time, some only a few days. Some Corprinus species are famous for literally melting into black ooze just a few days after first appearing. Other gilled mushrooms take longer to entirely disappear - while some woody polypores can last, in some form or another, for multiple seasons.
In terms of these little guys there just isn't a lot to disturb them except me and other microorganisms on the piece of bark. In nature rain, wind, snow and other animald would play a role in eliminating signs of the fungal growth. Now I don't know yet how this particular species even spreads it spores - so it could be it disappears as a result of its own physiology in the coming days. Time may tell.
Very interesting really. I always like your posts if I see them.
Further research revealed this probably IS a slime mold! So, from my perspective, that's even more exciting!