Slime Mould ( Myxomycetes )
I have been very fortunate to have had instruction on how to take photos of microscopic organisms known as Slime Mould by Andy Sands a true master of the art.
All of the photos on this page were taken by me in Burnham Beeches, an ancient Woodland.
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SLIME MOULD
Left is a hugely magnified photostacked image ( 60 photos merged together)
of Stemonitis Fusca.
The collective name for fungi, lichens, and slime moulds is “cryptogams” —
a historical botanical term meaning “plants that reproduce by spores” rather than seeds or flowers.
However:
In modern classification, fungi, lichens, and slime moulds are in entirely different kingdoms,
so “cryptogams” is more of a loose, traditional grouping than a scientific one.
Lichens are actually a symbiosis between fungi and algae (or cyanobacteria), while slime moulds are protists, not fungi.
Technical jargon apart, I have a passion for finding and photographing anything that falls within this group.
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