many-headed slime

Many-headed slime is a plasmodial slime mold. It has been reported in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, North America, and South America. Most reports are from the eastern United States. All but a few plasmodial slime molds are invisible to the naked eye, are usually overlooked, and are little studied. Many-headed slime is an exception in all respects. It is most often found on a growth medium (agar) in laboratories, where it is frequently used in researching cell development, protoplasmic streaming, and nuclear behavior. In one interesting study it was “shown” that it “solved” a maze. In nature it is found on shaded rotting wood in forests, in woodlands, and even in treed suburbs. It is short lived, appearing after a soaking rain and disintegrating in just a few days.

Many-headed slime lives in rotting wood feeding on fungi and bacteria. In late summer and fall, after a soaking rain, it creeps to the surface of the substrate. It appears as a bright yellow, many-branched network of veins that creep along the surface. Protoplasm can be seen streaming within the veins. When exposed to light it produces spore-bearing structures (sporangia). The sporangia differ from other slime molds in having multiple heads, hence the common name many-headed slime.

Forests, woodlands, and suburbs on shaded rotting wood

Late summer and fall

Sources

7, 26, 29, 30, 77.

Biodiversity occurrence data published by: Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas (accessed through the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Portal, bellatlas.umn.edu, 7/1/2025).

Widespread but not common

Genus
This species was formerly classified as Physarum polycephalum. A recent molecular analysis of the Order Physarales (J.M. García-Martín et al., 2023) found that Physarum polycephalum was “closely related to Badhamia s.str and not to Physarum s.str. in all analyses.” The authors moved the species to the latter genus and changed the name to Badhamia polycephala.

Higher ranking
There is ongoing disagreement about the classification of slime molds above the rank of genus. The ranking above follows Catalogue of Life, MycoBank, and iNaturalist. It is not in agreement with Index Fungorum, MycoPortal, ITIS, or Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), none of which agree with iNaturalist or with each other. iNaturalist lists the Superorder and the Subclass. MycoBank and COL do not.

Hours after a soaking rain ...

... and two days later

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