Dog vomit slime mold

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

not listed

Minnesota

not listed

Description

Plasmodial slime molds are single-celled organisms, masses of protoplasm without cell walls (naked) and with thousands of nuclei. Like animals, they move and violently eject unwanted inorganic materials. Like amoeba, they feed by engulfing particles of food. Like fungi, they reproduce by producing fruit bodies containing spores that are distributed by wind. Formerly classified as fungi, plasmodial slime molds are now known to be unrelated.

Dog vomit slime mold is a plasmodial slime mold. It has a worldwide distribution, occurring on every continent except Greenland and Antarctica. It is often found in urban areas from May to October. It grows on the rotten wood of stumps, logs, and wood mulches; on garden soil enriched with manure; and also on living plants. It may migrate one meter or more to nearby food sources. It feeds on bacteria, spores of fungi and non-flowering plants, protozoa, and nonliving organic matter. Its common name accurately describes its appearance. It is not edible.

Dog vomit slime mold may appear as an irregular cushion-like mass, a slimy sheet, or a crust-like sheet. When it first appears it is a white to yellow slimy sheet 1″ to 8″ (2.5 to 20 cm) long. At this stage it cannot reliably be distinguished in the field from other similar-looking slime molds. At some point the protoplasm transforms into a large, cushion-like, fruiting body (aethalium). At this stage the slime mold is easily identified in the field. The aethalium is ⅜″ to 1¼″ (1 to 3 cm) thick and may be white, yellowish, brownish-yellow, or reddish-brown. It is covered by a brittle crust. Breaking the crust away reveals a dull black spore mass.

Similar Species

Habitat and Hosts

Stumps, logs, wood mulches, garden soil, and living plants

Ecology

Season

May through October

Distribution

Sources

24, 30, 77.

Biodiversity occurrence data published by: Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas (accessed through the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Portal, bellatlas.umn.edu. Accessed 8/28/2026).

Fuligo septica (L.) F.H.Wigg., 1780 in Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Abreu, C., Acero P, A., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (2026-07-17 XR). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgykv

Mycology Collections Portal (MyCoPortal) https://www.mycoportal.org/portal/collections/index.php). Accessed 8/28/2026.