Unidentified fungus

[phil kirk]

Carol (duxbury Ramber) has posted a photo of a distinctive fungus, and would like help with the id.
Click this link to view
http://gallery.chorleynats.org.uk/main. ... temId=3722

[Joyce Riley]

Thanks to Carol's excellent photograph on the gallery, I am able to confirm her tentative identification of the fungus as Tubifera ferruginosa. It is one of the Myxomycetes, commonly referred to as Slime Moulds. Most of them are microscopic and only a few are large enough to be distinctive to the naked eye but this is one of the few. I personally have never seen this species and am delighted that it has been recorded locally. You were lucky Carol to be in the right place at the right time!
Joyce