On a family holiday in the Lake District this summer, walking through Grizedale Forest we spotted a bright yellow slime mould that might be Physarum virescens.

It was on a damp mound of moss – possibly a Polytrichum.

A Google Lens search suggested P. virescens but also suggested Badhamia lilacina.

However, Bruce Ing in his identification handbook states that B. lilacina is found on vegetation emerging from the surface of Sphagnum bogs whereas P. virescens is found on terrestrial mosses in damp forest. [1]

At the Grizedale visitor centre we spotted more slime moulds – a collection of slime mould photos by Barry Webb!

[1] The Myxomycetes of Britain and Ireland – Bruce Ing (2024 reprint of the 2022 edition).