After work tonight, I spent a little time in the yard with Gracie-dog. I was looking at the flowers and trees, and noticed something strange attached to our maple tree: a round growth, brownish-pink in color and slightly larger than a golf ball. I’d never seen anything like it before and, finding it creepily-fascinating, my logical response was to find a stick and poke it.
Imagine my shock when bubblegum-pink slime oozed out!
Thank goodness for Google. I ran inside and did a search for “tree fungus with pink goo inside” — sure enough, I got results!
Turns out, it’s not a fungus — it’s a slime mold, Lycogala epdendrum, also known as wolf’s milk slime mold or toothpaste slime mold. (The slime inside definitely resembles toothpaste or Poligrip for dentures!)
I kind of can’t believe I’ve never seen this before, but I thought it was really interesting. Isn’t nature amazing?
That’s definitely interesting. And disgusting! :)
So did you leave it on the tree? I’m assuming if you did that it must not be poisonous for Gracie. It sure looks like something out of the Alien movies! LOL
Twitter: @mandi
I did leave it on the tree for now. From what I read, it’s not dangerous, and it’s at almost shoulder-height on the tree trunk, so Grace can’t get to it.
Twitter: @rachael1013
Oh my God. That would have freaked me out SO MUCH.