Fuligo septica

Fuligo septica earns its vivid common name—dog vomit slime mold—from its appearance during the plasmodial stage: bright yellow, foamy masses that appear suddenly on lawns, wood chips, and garden mulch. Like Physarum, Fuligo exists as a giant multinucleate cell that flows across surfaces consuming bacteria and organic matter. But Fuligo's plasmodia grow larger and more conspicuously colored, making it the slime mold most likely to alarm gardeners.

The transition from plasmodium to fruiting body reveals how emergent multicellular structure arises from single-celled organization. When food runs out, the flowing plasmodium stops, heaps itself into a mound, and transforms into a fruiting structure called an aethalium. This transformation involves radical reorganization: the continuous plasmodium becomes a rigid structure containing millions of spores. The process requires no cell division—the multinucleate cell simply partitions its cytoplasm around individual nuclei, each becoming a spore.

Fuligo's conspicuousness has made it a citizen science tool. Its sudden appearance attracts attention, and its easy identification enables non-scientists to contribute observations. Mapping Fuligo occurrence reveals environmental patterns—moisture levels, decomposition activity, microclimate variation—that inform ecological understanding. The organism that startles gardeners with its alien appearance becomes a window into soil ecosystem dynamics. Sometimes the organisms that demand human attention prove most useful for engaging public participation in science.