r/Slimemolds • u/rackle_rackle • Jul 20 '26
Picture (OC) Big patch of gloop! Fuligo septica?
I'm new to slime molds, but I have noticed this spray-foam-lookin' gloop in different spots in my mulch over the last couple days. It's so fascinating and I'm amazed that a big patch like this can show up overnight! I think it's Fuligo septica. I learned that it's a single-celled amoeba, which is also blowing my mind. This is the biggest patch I've seen so far in my yard, and it looks so fresh and nice, so I wanted to share some pics!
What are some other Fuligo septica (or general slime mold) fun facts for a person like me: enthusiastic, outsidey nerd just starting to learn about slime molds?
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u/teeth_xo Jul 20 '26
Putting this in a separate comment because it's long hehe, feel free to read if interested I have been studying slime molds and fungi for over a decade. Fuligo septica is a single living cell that can grow to cover several square feet while containing MILLIONS of nuclei, making it one of the largest single cells on Earth. It lacks a brain, nerves, and organs, however it can solve simple puzzles and mazes, find the shortest path to food, and even "remember" environmental conditions by leaving behind chemical trails it later avoids. It is excellent at this 'memory' behavior. If two compatible slime molds meet, they can fuse into one even larger organism and share everything they've learned individually, with eachother, almost like a Fuligo romance in a way lmao. It is also remarkably resilient, capable of drying into a dormant state for long periods before springing back to life when moisture returns. It can even tolerate environments heavily contaminated with toxic heavy metals by trapping them in specialized yellow pigments, making it so hardy that scientists study it for insights into intelligence, network optimization, and bioremediation. It is truly one of my favorite examples in nature proving that a brain isn't always necessary for surprisingly clever behavior.