3 Days in the Life of a Mushroom

Or more appropriately, 3 Days AS the Life of a Mushroom. This is a terrific time lapse video that I've been using to highlight the short, sweet, and sad I think, life of a mushroom. (Of course the mycelium is still alive in the rotted wood, and may continue to shoot up these Coprinus mushrooms for some time to come.) The added music is a nice touch.

3 Day Fungus from nshack on Vimeo.

Thanks to nshack for taking the time (3 days time!) to create this.

Happy 50th Birthday to... The Blob!

That's right. As I earlier pointed out here, today is the 50th anniversary of the release of The Blob.

Released on September 12th, 1958, this movie should hold a dear spot in your heart if you're a fan of fungi and slime molds. There's a nice little overview (and pictures) of slime molds here at Dave and Jocie's Natural History Blog.

The movie itself has become a cult classic and recieved a mediocre remake in 1988. The remake doesn't have quite the same panache of the original, nor a young Steve McQueen.

So to help celebrate this slime-omentous day, here's a terrific youtube video of all the highlights from the movie edited down to a quick 2 minutes and 20 seconds. Pay special attention at the 1:30 mark to see a young extra take an impressive wipeout while trying to escape the clutches of the incredibly slow moving, yet pulsating, cherry goo blob, at the movie theater. No stuntperson needed!

Mushroom Men

Okay... I was going to wait until I finished the Matango posts before I moved on to these, but I guess there's nothing wrong about running them simultaneously. So... here's just a sneak peek at what has to be the Citizen Kane of Mushroom games. This game's been out for awhile but no jumping onto YouTube and searching for lots of cool clips! I'll roll 'em out here for your enjoyment.



You'll notice a bunch of Fly Amanitas wreaking havoc. Fly Amanitas, of course, are one of the most commonly recognizable mushrooms in pop culture. They've appeared in lots of kids' books and 70's poster art. Here, it appears, they finally fight back for the negative portrayal we've heaped on them for years. Oh sure, being poisonous is bad enough... but shooting lasers? Good stuff.

Coming Soon to MycoBabble!

Keep checking back as soon we'll begin our descent into... MATANGO!

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.