The Blob Turns 50!

2008 marks the 50 year anniversary of one of the great B-movies of all time... 1958's "The Blob." Though the title monster was of alien descent, it was inspired by the very real slime molds. And though slime molds aren't fungi (they usually reside in the kingdom Protista) they were paired with mushrooms for a while and can often be found in mushroom field guides... not that you EVER need a reason to study these fascinating organisms.

What's great about the Blob is that it shares several features of slime molds. Rubbery, blood red in the movie, I have found several bright pink ones. One of the more common (and utter bizarre!) slime molds is Fuligo septica, an often bright yellow, vomitous-looking slime mold often found during summer after rains. I've found many on spread mulch chips in landscaped gardens. At a nearby school parking lot, I found over a dozen in August. All were on newly mulched planters. They eat as they move, growing larger, until they stop, die, and release their spores. That final climatic scene was probably a bit too mundane for movie producers. A boatload of fire extinguishers are used in the Hollywood telling. This is the slime mold that gave poor Steve McQueen fits. Of course he IS poking it with a stick.

Compare that to the one I found a few years back. Cotton candy pink on a fallen pine. Over the course of a few days it got darker and crusted over. Usually by the time you've discovered one of these types of slimes they're done moving. Still, I've occasionally placed a small twig as a marker just to make sure. The most movement I've seen over the course of a day or two, was a slime in the shaded end of a garden make its way up about 3 inches on a sapling. And no, I didn't poke it with a stick.

Look for more Blob posts as we work up to the official 50th anniversary which IMDB lists as September 12th.