Dog sick slime mold

Description

Dog sick slime mold is a widespread and very common slime mold. It occurs in Europe, Asia, North America, Australia, and New Zealand. It occurs throughout the United States, but it is most common east of the Great Plains and west of the Rocky Mountains.

Dog sick slime mold is found from May to October, in areas with rich soil and abundant organic matter, often seeking out rotting wood, leaf litter, and wood chip mulch where it feeds on bacteria and fungi. It is frequently seen as it migrates off the substrate and crawls up the stems of living plants or onto wet grass to position its fruiting body for spore dispersal.

When it first appears, it is yellow and it looks like a multitude of numerous growths. In fact, it is a single massive fruiting body known as an aethalium. This is the plasmodium, the foamy or slimy feeding stage. Within 24 hours, the aethalium dries out and its color fades, leaving a pale, brittle crust, or cortex, that resembles a dry, white patch of old leather. This crust is heavily impregnated with calcium carbonate (lime) crystals, which gives the structure its chalky or spongy texture and bright white appearance.

The fragile cortex soon flakes away, revealing the powdery, usually purplish brown or dark gray spore mass within. The spores are dispersed by wind and rain.

Similar Species

Habitat and Hosts

Areas with rich soil and abundant organic matter

Ecology

Season

May to October