Fuligo septica
| Fuligo septica | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Fuligo septica with white and yellow tissue | |
| Scientific classification | |
| (unranked): | Amoebozoa |
| Infraphylum: | Mycetozoa |
| Class: | Myxogastria |
| Order: | Physarales |
| Family: | Physaraceae |
| Genus: | Fuligo |
| Species: |
Fuligo septica (L.) F.H.Wigg (1780) |
| Synonyms | |
|
Mucor septicus L. (1763) |
|
Mucor septicus L. (1763)
Reticularia septica (L.) With. (1792)
Aethalium septicum (L.) Fr. (1829)
Fuligo septica is a species of plasmodial slime mold, and a member of the Myxomycetes class. It is commonly known as the scrambled egg slime, or flowers of tan because of its peculiar yellowish, bile-colored appearance. A common species with a worldwide distribution, it is often found on bark mulch in urban areas after heavy rain or excessive watering. Their spores are produced on or in aerial sporangia and are spread by wind.
The first description of the species was provided by French botanist Jean Marchant in 1727, who referred to it as "flowers of tan"; Marchant classified it as a "sponge".Carl Linnaeus called it Mucor septicus in his 1763 Species Plantarum. The species was transferred to the genus Fuligo by German botanist Friedrich Heinrich Wiggers in 1780.
Like many slime molds, the cells of this species typically aggregate to form a plasmodium, a multinucleate mass of undifferentiated cells that may move in an ameboid-like fashion during the search for nutrients. F. septica's plasmodium may be anywhere from white to yellow-gray, typically 2.5–20 cm (1.0–7.9 in) in diameter, and 1–3 cm (0.4–1.2 in) thick. The plasmodium eventually transforms into a sponge-like aethalium, analogous to the spore-bearing fruiting body of a mushroom; which then degrades, darkening in color, and releases its dark-colored spores. F. septica produces the largest aethalium of any slime mold. This species is known to have its spores dispersed by beetles (family Latridiidae).
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