3 Nov 2025: Fungi and not fungi
It's been an interesting autumn for fungi around the Pond, with several new species recorded. One of these is Honey Fungus (Armillaria mellea agg.) which we've spotted on dead tree stumps along the Normandy Way side of the area. This identification has not been confirmed, but we will discuss it with the Town Council in case any action is required to protect healthy trees.
A more exciting discovery, on the same stump as the Honey Fungus as it happens, was Fuligo septica, commonly known as “Scrambled egg slime mould”, because of its appearance, or even less attractively as “Dog vomit slime mould”. All the references to it that I've found so far have used the American spelling of “mold”. Despite appearances, it isn't a fungus, it's a slime mould. These are basically Protozoa, like Amoeba. Individual cells move around and, when dense enough, aggregate together to produce a fungus-like body eventually developing spore-bearing structures.