Strange mould on lawn
 

I was doing a little weeding on the front 'lawn' today, when I noticed what
looked at first like a patch of yellow rice around some dichondra. On further
examination I realised that the 'rice grains' were actually the fruiting bodies
of some sort of fungus, which was actively attacking the dichondra and the
rather sparse grass. The affected area was about 20 centimetres by 30
centimetres. I don't recall having seen this fungus before, though I have seen
vaguely similar things in the past.

On past performance it should die out fairly quickly, without doing any serious
damage. If you are curious, I have put a photo of the fungus on my web site, at
the address below.

James McNangle, aka Roger Riordan AM.

http://www.corybas.com/Albums/Mould.htm

James McNangle

Looks like the sporangia (fruiting bodies) of a Myxomycete (slime
mould) possibly Leocarpus fragilis.

"GreenieLeBrun" wrote:

Looks like the sporangia (fruiting bodies) of a Myxomycete (slime
mould) possibly Leocarpus fragilis.

Thank you for this. I am not very familiar with the slime moulds, but this is
consistent with what I know. I went to show the first batch to my wife
yesterday, and found that it had almost disappeared. However I found a second
patch this morning, which did not seem so far advanced, and I took a series of
photos during the day. At first the coating was fairly thick and relatively
uniform, but as the day progressed it contracted, exposing objects which were
initially completely obscured, and forming a series of structures rather like
ants eggs.

I have revised the page on my web site to show these photos. The reference is
http://www.corybas.com/Albums/Mould.htm. I have also taken the liberty of
quoting your comments above. Please let me know if you would rather I removed
these.

Roger Riordan AM
James McNangle

I don't mind the comments being on your page. The newer photos do
suggest a slime mould but as to the identification well, the
myxomycetes are such a large and poorly described group so at best it
is a possibility.