I live in central PA and was weeding one of my flower gardens and came across something unusual. At the edge of the garden, I have a large rock. There was tall grass growing along the rock and as I pulled the first bunch, I saw a purpley, powdery substance. As I gently pulled more grass to expose it, I noticed it had what almost looked like a "skin". But it was turning to powder or dust as it was exposed. My dad has worked as a tree trimmer for 40 years and when I called him over to show it to him, he had never seen anything like it. Any clues on what this might be? My biggest question is whether it is dangerous to my kids or animals?
Until you know what this stuff is, best to assume that it might be. Weird! Pollen, maybe? Perhaps a fungus spore. A photo of your powder would be helpful! Welcome to the Forum!
I tentatively would say this is a possible slime mould as well? But without photos it's just pure guessing at the moment. Many types of slime moulds by the time we see them are already in the 'sporing' stage...like the dust u were mentioning? There are also types of puffball fungi that have a very interesting purplish spore to them.
