Slime moulds & fungi at Strumpshaw Fen – 7th December 2025

The Dell

These have a Hemitrichia decipiens feel about them, if only because they appear to have the translucent white stalk that is associated with Hemitrichia decipiens.

Clearly they have developed beyond the often photographed orange/peach/salmon younger form, except for the four sporangia in the photo below. Below them, some sporangia have already turned to a deep olive but are translucent, showing the spore mass inside still retaining a peach colour.

The Sandy Glade

This was exciting – I don't see these plasmodiocarp slime mould forms very much at all.

These slime moulds below are definitely likely Hemitrichia clavate.

Around The Outpost

This is the high stump that toppled over in autumn 2025. It had previously not appeared to host any obvious slime moulds but now that it was on the ground we did start to see slime moulds growing on it.

On this day I spotted slime mould groups at various stages of development. In the photo below the sporothecae are at the stage just before dehiscence – they look like they could be Comatricha nigra.

This is the plasmodium that was present.

The pale-yellow sporangia below have a Comatricha nigra feel about them and given the colour similarity to the plasmodium above, that plasmodium could therefore be a Comatricha nigra. Note the white sporangia below in the bark fissure.

Below is another group of white sporangia, and looking more closely, the sporothecae do have a different form – more like Stemonitopsis typhina, which we saw on this fallen stump in November.

This green stained wood fragment caught my eye.

The staining is undoubtedly from Chlorociboria – picking it up I noticed a small mushroom growing at one end.

This white-grey plasmodium I think is Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa.

In the photo below the plasmodium is beginning to sporulate.

In the photo below, you can see translucent grey amorphous plasmodium alongside a whiter, sporulating area that is beginning to develop buds that will eventually form the small coral-like branched structures.

These lichens and the two glowing Tremella fruiting bodies on this branch are a wonderful array of colours.

As I understand it, these are more likely to be Tremella mesenterica than Naematelia aurantia. While Naematelia aurantia is associated with Stereum hirsutum, Stereum hirsutum seems to prefer larger, more substantial sections of wood than smaller diameter branches. Tremella mesenterica is associated with Peniophora.