Wild Mushrooms of Ainsworth: Wolf's-milk Slime

(Click on image to enlarge)

Found on a log in my field. I popped that one at the bottom to see what was inside. It looks like brains, doesn't it? Well, some people think it looks like toothpaste, which is why another name for this stuff is Toothpaste Slime.

Says Wikipedia: "Lycogala epidendrum, commonly known as wolf's milk or groening's slime, is a cosmopolitan species of plasmodial slime mould which is often mistaken for a fungus." I made that mistake myself, at first, thinking these were mushrooms.*

Its growing season is supposed to be June through November, but what with the early spring this year, I guess it got a head start.

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*Yes, the title of the post says, "Wild Mushrooms," and so does the indexing label. So sue me.