What wonders are revealed as I wander! The strange beauty of the forest floor, the decaying woods, the dark corners few ever bother to explore -- they never fail to gift me with a treasure when I seek them. Sometimes I find them by scent or sight, other times it seems they whisper to me, or vibrate. I cannot explain it, but I often feel their presence before I find them, as if I am being watched. This only happens with fungi; we must have a connection I don't yet fully understand.
While on a wandering, this charmer gave me a whisper. It is one of the slime molds named Stemonensis spp. There are many of these brown beauties & they are difficult to ID down to the individual species without examining their spores microscopically. However, this one is likely S. splendens (what an apropos name!), the Chocolate Tube Slime or Pipe Cleaner Slime or possibly it is another of a number of these lovely mocha "Tree hair slimes." In the sunlight, it has an ethereal appearance, much like a sea anenome. If you brush it you receive a light dusting of fine, cocoa-like spores. I fell in love instantly.
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