What Is Slime Mold? Gardener From Australia Notices Oozing Mass Growing in Vegetable Patch

A gardener noticed something bizarre in his vegetable patch. So, he uploaded a photo of it on social media and was told it was a slime mold.

Slime Mold in Patch Garden in Australia

An "oozing mass" formed on a gardener's vegetable patch, perplexing the gardener. The strange beige slime emerged on the man's lawn in Gold Coast this week, and he turned to social media to learn what it was, Daily Mail reported.

To identify the substance, he posted many pictures of it online. Social media users immediately compared it to cheese sauce and vomit.

One person ultimately identified the strange mass as "slime mold." The response brought answers to other perplexed users

Tanya Latty, an entomologist at the University of Sydney, told Yahoo News that while it looks similar to fungi, slime mold, also known as Fulgio septica or "dog vomit," is very different.

Slime molds are enormous, single-celled creatures with complex life cycles, which is not true for fungi. The image most likely depicts a slime mold in its large, blob-like life stage, or "plasmodium." Depending on the species, it will eventually mature into spores that have unique forms.

So a thorough analysis of the spore-bearing structures would be necessary for definitive identification.

Despite not having a brain or central nervous system, the slime mold's capacity to move is one of its defining characteristics. The strange substance can also retain the sources of nourishment for future use.

Slime mold, a member of the Protista phylum, is extraordinarily prevalent in Australian gardens. Naturalists first noticed it in 1504.

It contains approximately 100 species in Tasmania alone and is most frequently found in places with wood chips or leaf litter. As long as it can protect itself from light, slime mold can grow everywhere and doesn't seem to care about its surroundings.

The oddity is known to flee from extremely wet settings in pursuit of something dry or decomposing, but moisture also seems to repel it.

Scientists are still baffled by the slime's mobility, but it is known to be capable of navigating a maze without the aid of a brain.

The mold, which can grow up to five centimeters in length when hungry and may shoot spores to penetrate its growth, is also known for its endurance. Since bacteria and fungi make up most of their food, it is usually safe for people and animals to consume.

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What Is Slime Molds?

Slime molds are an uncommon group of organisms formerly categorized as fungi, plants, and mammals. Slime molds have cellulose in the cell walls of their spores, just like plants do. Slime molds are heterotrophs, unlike plants! Slime molds have a diplontic life cycle and do not include chitin in their cell walls, even though they were formerly categorized as fungi, according to LibreTexts.

As bacteria-eating amoebae, these creatures move around (unlike fungi, which externally digest food). They produce spores when environmental circumstances deteriorate, whether due to a food shortage or moisture. They are usually found on decaying logs and forest litter, where they can be found in wet substrates with lots of bacteria.

Slime molds have three main groups - plasmodial, cellular, and labyrinthulomycota. All three share a common lifestyle; they superficially resemble fungi. When the condition is unfavorable, they mold into sporangia, forming clusters of spores, according to the University of Berkeley.