After 15 years of use, it was time to replace the propagation bench. Much of the wood had started to rot.
This was done on March 14, 2006. There was a surprise on one piece of wood.
Finding one of the smaller slime molds is mostly a matter of luck.
The sporangium is usually about three-tenths of a millimeter in diameter in this species.
The spore-bearing structure is called the sporangium
This one is still full of spores
As the sporangium matures, the spores are shed.
The first picture of this series shows the surface of the wood darkened by spores
This species exhibits a remnant structure called a capitillium that is left over after the spores are shed
In the English measurement system, these sporangia are a little under one-sixtyfourth of an inch in diameter
Just imagine how thin the stalks are that hold up the sporangia
Some of the sporangia are much smaller than 0.3 millimeters diameter
The central extension of the stalk into the sporangium is called a columella
THe presence or absence of a columella is an important diagnostic feature
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