Content
There are fruiting bodies that are a cross between mushrooms and animals. Myxomycetes feed on bacteria and are able to move. Tubifera rustifata of the Reticulariaceae family belongs to such slime molds. It is a plasmodium and lives in places hidden from human eyes. Today, about 12 types of such varieties are known.
Where does Tubifera rusty grow?
The favorite habitat of these myxomycetes are stumps and snags, fallen trunks of rotten trees. They settle in cracks where dampness persists and where direct rays of the sun do not reach. Their growth time is from early summer to mid-autumn. They are found in the temperate forests of Russia and Europe. They are also found further south: in tropical and equatorial forest zones. These representatives can often be seen in Australia, India, and China.
What does the rusty tubifera slime mold look like?
The myxomycete consists of tubes (sporocarps) up to 7 mm high, they are located very closely. They are fused with a side wall, but do not have a common shell.They look like one fruiting body, yet each sporocarp develops individually. It consists of a head, which is called a sporangium, and a stalk. Such bodies are known as pseudoetalia.
Spores emerge from the sporocarps and form new fruiting bodies. Thus, the slime mold can grow up to 20 cm. At the beginning of maturation, plasmodium is colored pink, bright red. Gradually, the bodies lose their attractiveness and become dark gray and brown. Therefore, this type of slime mold is called rusty. In this state they are almost impossible to notice.
The bright color of the rusty tubifera is noticeable to everyone
The development cycle of Tubifera rusty is complex:
- Spores appear and germinate.
- Cells develop that are similar to the structure of an amoeba.
- Plasmodium with many nuclei is formed.
- A sporophore—pseudoetalia—is formed.
Then the cycle starts over.
Is it possible to eat rusty tubifera?
Pseudoetalia is inedible neither at the early nor at the late stage of ripening. This is not a mushroom, but a completely different fruiting body.
Conclusion
Tubifera rusty - cosmopolitan. It is found in different parts of the world from northern to southern latitudes. It is only absent in Antarctica.
