Lycogala epidendrum

Scientific name:  Lycogala epidendrum (L.) Fries
Derivation of name:  Epidendrum means "on wood" in
reference to its typical habitat.
Synonyms:  Lycoperdon epidendrum
Common name(s):  Wolf's milk slime; Toothpaste slime.
Phylum:   Myxomycota
Order:   Liceales
Family:  Reticulariaceae
Occurrence on wood substrate:  Saprobic; scattered to
clustered on well-rotted wood; June through November.  
Dimensions:  This slime mold forms fruit bodies 3-15 mm
wide.  
Description: The globose to subglobose or compressed
fruitbodies of Lycogala epidendrum are at first pinkish-gray
to bright cinnabar-red when young. At this stage the flesh is
a pinkish, paste-like substance (like toothpaste?). With
maturity the fruit body becomes yellow-brown or olive-
brown and the spore mass becomes powdery and pinkish-
gray to ochre in mass.
Edibility: Inedible.
Comments: Although many slime mold species fruit on
wood, slime molds do not form a penetrating and absorptive
mass of hyphae in the wood substrate. Rather, slime molds
form structures called plasmodia which are naked
(i.e., without cell walls) masses of protoplasm which can
move and engulf particles of food in an amoeboid manner.
Slime mold plasmodia creep about over the surfaces of
materials, engulfing bacteria, spores of fungi and plants,
protozoa, and particles of nonliving organic matter. At some
point, plasmodia convert into spore-bearing structures. In
Lycogala, the plasmodium converts into a globose to
hemispherical mass of spores enclosed by an outer wall
called a peridium. This structure is called an aethalium
(plural: aethalia).

More information at MushroomExpert.com:   

Figure 1. This log supports a typical fruiting of Lycogala
epidendrum. The globose to hemispherical masses of
various sizes are aethalia which developed from a
plasmodium or plasmodia.


Figure 2. Pinkish-gray younger specimens. The finely
textured surface is typical of Lycogala epidendrum.
Photo © William Roody.


Figure 3. A pinkish fluid oozes from a broken peridium.
This fluid becomes progressively more pastelike as it matures
into a dry mass of spores.

Figure 4. A specimen with a particularly intense pinkish-red
coloration. These aethalia are probably newly formed from
plasmodia. The plasmodium of Lycogala epidendrum is
reported to be reddish or coral red in color.


Figure 5. The wet, sticky nature of the flesh inside is
revealed as it clings to the tip of the small stick used to break
open the peridium.

Figure 6. Maturing specimens of Lycogala epidendrum.
Photo © Fred Habegger.

Figure 7. Maturing specimen with a violet colored
spore mass.

Figure 8. At maturity, the coloration of the outside and inside
is quite different. In addition, the spore mass is dry and
powdery.