Thanx miss_myxomycete....nice to see a Slime lover! Do you know of any books that help with ID'ing them by any chance?
Re: Brown hairlike fungus Hi C.Wick, I have 3 i.d. books tho' none is really a field guide. Daniel actually asked me this question a while back, so I'll copy my answer to him here : Oh, it would be so good to have a colour field guide... I have 3 books on these gorgeous organisms : i) Myxomycetes-A Handbook of Slime Molds-Steven L. Stephenson & Henry Stempen (Timber Press) ISBN 0-88192-439-3 (1994, paperback 2000) US book, lots of b/w diagrams, a few b/w microscopic photos, 16 colour plates ii) The Myxomycetes of Britain & Ireland-An Identification Handbook--Bruce Ing (Richmond Publishing) ISBN 0-85546-251-5 (1999 hardback only) UK academic book, b/w diagrams iii) how to know the true slime molds-M.L.Farr (WCB/McGraw-Hill, 'Pictured Key Nature Series') ISBN 0-697-04779-2 (1981 spiral-bound paperback) US book, b/w diagrams & a few b/w photos. All 3 contain general introductory information/chapters-habitat, structure, ecology etc - and also keys. iii) is primarily a key (with only a few concise intro chapters) and fairly lightweight, the closest to a fieldguide, tho' no colour photos/diagrams. A lot of the diagrams are of microscopic detail but some good ones of colonies of fruiting bodies. Covers common species most likely to be encountered. i) has excellent b/w diagrams. Also has a few intro chapters, then a key to orders, and species keys. More info on each species than iii), covers 175 common species only. It does call itself a fieldguide but most of it is not applicabe or useable in the field! unless you carry a very powerful microscope around with you... It's heavier than iii) ii) concise intro chapters, key to orders & families, then the bulk of the book is divided into each family including a species key. B/w diagrams of each species mostly microscopic detail, diagrams not so good as i) & iii) but a lot more info on each species, and many, many more species covered. Excellent tome! Heavy! Includes worldwide distribution info (localised distribution only given for UK tho') I don't know how easily available any of these are, I suspect iii) might be difficult to come by. I think they're all worth having!! Hope that helps! Bruce Ing is running a course in Oct here in UK as part of the Field Studies Council "Moulds, Mildews and Microfungi" ....involves field collection and examination of myxomycetes and microfungi... http://www.field-studies-council.org/2009/courseinfo.aspx?id=372 Can't go as have ongoing financial & health probs :( maybe in future years if it's still running. All best to you & your wonderful photos!!
Re: Brown hairlike fungus ....also, for those who've not yet seen the excellent new magazine Fungi, I recommend checking it out. There is an interesting myxo article in a recent issue: http://www.fungimag.com/spring-08-articles/keller-low-res.pdf frog
Re: Brown hairlike fungus And an avid reader of FUNGI...especially since my photo was the cover for this past Special Issue:Ethnomycology (Volume 2 No.2 2009). An excellent issue with a story about the hazards of field collecting........thanx to nature. :o) Finding many more books on Myxomycetes...thanx everyone for the suggestions!