Fuligo septica
Fuligo septica
The Yellow Lohblüte or witches butter ( Fuligo septica ) is a slime mold species from the order of the Physarida. It is common, widespread, and most of striking yellow color.
Features
The plasmodium is usually yellow, rarely white or cream. The fruiting body usually solitary, rarely occurring in small groups ( Aethalien ) have a diameter of 2 to 20 centimeters and a height of up to 3 inches. They are white on pale yellow, pale pink to red, dark red, brown, purple or greenish. The Hypothallus consists of one or more layers of colorless to brownish, perforated membrane that do not extend beyond the Aethalium. The outer skin of the Aethaliums (Cortex ) is relatively thick, chalky and fragile, rarely fixed or entirely absent, the membranous peridium is colorless and bears scattered lime stains.
The occasionally only weakly developed scalp is physaroid, thus forms a network in which thickened, irregularly shaped, reddish or yellow to white Kalkknoten are connected by slender, translucent and lime-free threads.
The diameter of six to nine microns measured, smooth to finely spiny, spherical spores are in the mass dark gray to black, individually in transmitted light light purple.
Distribution and ecology
The Yellow Lohblüte is distributed worldwide. They settled rotting wood, bark, rotting material in the scattering horizon of the forest floor and the ground itself occasionally fruiting bodies on living plants, but damage to the plants does not arise here. Sometimes the plasmodia can also be found on lawns. Evidence exist for deserts.
A specialist on the Aethalien the type of fungus in particular higher latitudes is the ascomycete Nectriopsis violacea. Also, beetles of the family of moss mold beetle ( Lathridiidae ) feed on the Aethalien, but at the same time spread the spores on.
System
Fuligo septica was first described in 1763 by Carolus Linnaeus as Mucor septicus, 1780 Friedrich Heinrich Wiggers then placed it in the genus Fuligo whose type species it is. A holotype is not specified in the original description, locus classicus is France.
Use
Plasmodia of Yellow Lohblüte be eaten grilled in the area of Vera Cruz in Mexico or fried and " caca de luna" ( "moon shit " ) as a delicacy.