What is this???

Thirdeyeartifactguy

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Apr 21, 2019
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It looks like what is known as ‘tree slime’, also known as ‘stump flux’. You see it in hardwood trees (especially cut stumps) when the roots below the ground don’t ‘know’ the upper part of the tree is dead or has been chopped down. They carry on pumping nutrients up through the vascular system that aren’t metabolised because there’s no plant tissue above ground to utilise them.

Once the unused nutrients bleed out, yeasts, moulds and bacteria feed on them creating slimy colonies with a yellow/orange colour that comes from carotenoid plant pigments. Typically the organisms that create these colonies are things like Cryptococcus, Fusarium and Acremonium.

Tree Slime.jpg
 

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thread Moved to What is It ?
 

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It looks like what is known as ‘tree slime’, also known as ‘stump flux’. You see it in hardwood trees (especially cut stumps) when the roots below the ground don’t ‘know’ the upper part of the tree is dead or has been chopped down. They carry on pumping nutrients up through the vascular system that aren’t metabolised because there’s no plant tissue above ground to utilise them.

Once the unused nutrients bleed out, yeasts, moulds and bacteria feed on them creating slimy colonies with a yellow/orange colour that comes from carotenoid plant pigments. Typically the organisms that create these colonies are things like Cryptococcus, Fusarium and Acremonium.

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Awesome explanation, very educational!
 

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RUN ... it's the Invasion of the Body Snatchers
 

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