Whilst initially looking like ice crystals or coral, it is actually a slime mould – which is not a fungi but belongs to the kingdom Protozoa – single-celled organisms.
This colony was found covering a large area of a fallen and decaying tree trunk.
Although many slime mold species fruit on wood they do not form a penetrating and absorptive mass of hyphae in the wood substrate, but form structures called plasmodia which are naked (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.
Nature Journeys 
Wow, never seen before. Thanks so much for sharing this info 🙂
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You are welcome, Rudi, and thank you 🙂 I had never seen it before either, so was a fascinating discovery.
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Fascinating! And such clear photos. Very well done my friend!
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Thank you, Sandra 🙂 It was an interesting find.
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So delicate. Actually quite pretty, Peter.
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Thank you, Sandy 🙂
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Welcome.
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Nice
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Thank you 🙂
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Most interesting Peter, and so beutiful in closeups.
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Thank you, Hans 🙂 Nature is always full of surprises 🙂
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This is something brand new for me to see – and it looks attractive in your photographs too. Nonetheless, there is something sinister in your description of it creeping “about over the surfaces of materials, engulfing bacteria, spores of fungi and plants, protozoa, and particles of nonliving organic matter.”
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I have to admit it is kind of creepy and almost horror/sci fi movie stuff. But that’s how nature breaks down the dead at the same time sustains the living 🙂
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Beautiful nature.
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Nature is beautiful and fascinating … thank you Judy.
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It resembles frost as well. Very nice, Pete!
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Thank you, Belinda 🙂 It does look like frost, which was my first impression on seeing it.
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Nice work, with an unusual subject, Pete; I especially like your fourth image.
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Thank you, Gary. I hadn’t got my Raynox or my flash unit with me (I know, it’s a crime), as I was out looking for fungi, so was pleased to get the detail I got in the end.
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Wow, this is fascinating… they look just like frost!
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When I first come across it it was quite an odd sight for a third of the log was covered in it …. and it did just look like frost!
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This is so beautiful.
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Thank you, Flower 🙂 It is beautiful … and I would never have thought of calling slime beautiful before now 🙂
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Interesting – and I really like your pictures!
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Thank you, Anki 🙂 I had never seen anything like it before, and it looked like early morning frost, so quite an interesting find for me.
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Apparently I am not the only one who is enthusiastic about slime. 🙂 I found a couple of nice slimy examples (misnamed as they really are not slimy at all…at least most are not…several years ago. Mostly I run into the less intricate Fuligo septica. The species you’ve shared here is quite lovely if one is of a mind to examine it closely enough. That’s an awesome colony.
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Thank you, Steve. It was an interesting find, and one I hadn’t seen before.
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I think I would have just thought it was pretty frost. Really interesting.
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Thank you, Alison 🙂
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This is lovely!!
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I read about this one, but I never saw it. I think it must be the most beautiful slime mould! Excellent pictures! I saw two different slime moulds lately, strange ones (I didn’t think of Amoebozoa at all) and not so nice, but interesting too. What a fascinating world, isn’t it?
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It is indeed a fascinating world! Thank you! 🙂
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That is so interesting! I have never seen anything like that before 🙂
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Thank you, Julie 🙂 I hadn’t seen anything like it either 🙂
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It sure does look frosty. What a surprise to find out its true identity.
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It was quite a new one for me, and for a slime quite extraordinary 🙂
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