Sea anemone inland???

Another of the weird things growing in the woods. Sorry, not the clearest of photos as it is getting dark, tomorrow promises rain so I did not want to lose it! No idea what this is, it is even the size of the anemone you get in europe, around 3-4 cm diameter. The white stuff at the back is a sort of slime.

comments (11)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

That's astonishing, Claire! I had never seen such a thing before, but did some searching. It looks like it's a Chocolote tube slime:

http://publicphoto.org/mushrooms-2/chocolate-tube-slime-stemonitis-fungus/

They are in this genus:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stemonitis

If you pick the most likely species, I'll create the species manually :) Posted 10 years ago
1. Claire Hamilton
  
  Lion
  
  That's amazing Ferdy, thank you!
  Definately a stemonitis but as to which one is not so easy to ascertain. axifera, fusca,herbatica, pallida and splendens all appear to occur in South Africa although the nearest recorded spotting to my location is herbatica, so either we just go for Stemonitis sp. or chance it and go for Stemonitis herbatica.
  Reference here:
  http://www.cbs.knaw.nl/publications/mycoheritage/doidge/ch01s02.html
  
  Whatever it is, I think it is pretty awesome! Posted 10 years ago
2. 1. WildFlower
    
    Lion
    
    I am not so sure about Stemonitis herbatica. According to this source, the stalked sporangia of this species are much smaller.
    http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Stemonitis+herbatica&btxt=The+Eumycetozoan+Project&burl=http://./databaseframe.htm
    Descriptions of the species are compiled here - A Study of Taxonomy and Distributions of Genus Stemonitis
    http://www.shitennoji.ac.jp/ibu/images/toshokan/kiyo45-15.pdf Posted 10 years ago, modified 10 years ago
  2. 1. Claire Hamilton
      
      Lion
      
      What on earth would we do without you?! This site is perfect, thank you.
      Do you agree upon splendens?
      http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Stemonitis+splendens&btxt=The+Eumycetozoan+Project&burl=http://./databaseframe.htm Posted 10 years ago
    2. 1. WildFlower
        
        Lion
        
        That's the one I was also leaning towards. It has long sporangia on short stalks. I will create an entry for it. Posted 10 years ago

travismorhardt

Lion

How bizarre! Posted 10 years ago

Claire Hamilton

Lion

That's great, thank you once again for all your help! Posted 10 years ago
1. Ferdy Christant
  
  Lion
  
  Don't forget to put it on the weird species list :) Posted 10 years ago

Ferdy Christant

Lion

Interestingly, this is only the 2nd slime mold on the entire site:

http://www.jungledragon.com/wildlife/browse/amoebozoa

Note that slime molds are a top category, like animals, plants, and fungi. Posted 10 years ago
1. Claire Hamilton
  
  Lion
  
  Very interesting, I had never even heard of a slime mold before, what a revolting name for something so beautiful! Posted 10 years ago
2. 1. Ferdy Christant
    
    Lion
    
    Mob head chocolate tube slime mold. You found one! Posted 10 years ago