wolf's milk Lycogala epidendrum

this is my contribution to #FungiFriday by @ewkaw

though these fascinating organisms resemble fungi and for the most part have the same ecological role as decomposers they are actually nothing at all like fungi. they are slime molds, completely separate life forms classified as a distinct Kingdom called Protista. their cell structure is totally different, having cell walls made of cellulose, like plants while fungi cell walls are made of chitin, like the exoskeletons of insects.

fungi form networks of filaments called mycelia and their fruiting bodies with spores are what we normally understand as mushrooms. the mushrooms spread the spores and decompose and disappear but the fungi themselves can have long lives and produce mushrooms for many years. fungi feed by secreting enzymes that break down organic matter such as cellulose and/or lignin, then the mycelia absorb the resulting nutrients

slime molds have different life stages. during one stage they are barely visible plasmodia, (the scientific term for these single celled organisms much like amoeba), that move around. they feed by engulfing and digesting bacteria, fungi spores, tiny organic particles etc.

slime molds reproduce by asexual fission in dry conditions but under wet conditions the individual plasmodia give chemical signals to aggregate and fuse together and eventually create fruiting bodies, such as the wolf's milk we see here.

i am a novice in this complex field and my descriptions and explanations are amateur at best. i am learning as i post and i hope this raises some curiosity about these fascinating life forms. my sources have been Wikipedia and the AI overviews provided by Google. i took all these photos last autumn