I do some groundskeeping near my Church, and I found four strange "masses" of something in the grass under some trees. They were mostly white, w/ a "coral" or a fine "cauliflower" texture. One of them was pretty viscous, but the others turned out to be sort of a transparent jelly on the inside/underneath, and some were interspersed w/ masses of black particles that made me think of caviar or something texture-wise. I wasn't sure if they were attached to the ground or not.
I know that that's a bizarre description. I wish that I'd had a camera on me, but I felt that I ought to get them off the lawn before some kids touched them or something. I wonder if maybe it was "dog vomit" or something merely disgusting and bacteria-attracting. In the last week or so, we've had increased rainfall, and the mushrooms are really taking off.
Does any of that ring a bell? Thanks. : )
2006-08-11 20:15:15 · 4 answers · asked by Henley 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
[update:] I came back today, and there were 2 more (maybe new?) masses. I wasn't expecting that to happen...pretty much overnight. I got a couple of pics, which I might post/link. Thanks for all the feedback, everyone...and for anyone interested, I in fact did not taste it. I was concerned that it might be harmful, especially in an area where little kids frequently play. So the "jelly" is stuff that has already reproduced? that makes sense w/ what I saw. Interesting.
2006-08-12 20:17:36 · update #1
It could be a slime mold, which is a type of fungus.
These are special kinds of fungi. Whereas most molds reproduce by spreading spores from a cap, slime molds reproduce by first congregating into one "organism" out of several very small mold-like things. The new organism can move about, and looks like dog vomit or feces.
The viscous mass was still trying to reproduce, by releasing spores. The jelly masses were already dead, having completed their life cycle.
2006-08-11 21:31:11 · answer #1 · answered by dennis_d_wurm 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ive seen that before. We get in on our mulch sometimes. It looks like vomit. It's just a type of fungus or mold, similar to a mushroom. It will go away eventually. It happens a lot.
2006-08-11 20:17:41 · answer #2 · answered by northsoutheastwest 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is a type of fungus or mushroom. The white round ones are called puff balls. After they age they are filled with a brown powder (spores), and if squeezed will puff out a brown smoke.
2006-08-11 20:22:43 · answer #3 · answered by gp4rts 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sounds to me like a jet has dumped it holding tank...you didn;t taste any of this did you>?
2006-08-11 20:20:43 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋