How to identify Dog Vomit Slime Mold

To correctly identify Dog Vomit Slime Mold (Fuligo septica), check each of these features in order. Misidentification is the most common cause of mushroom poisoning, so cross-reference multiple sources.

Step-by-step identification

1. 1

   Cap

   Shape, color, surface texture, and diameter.

   Not applicable; this organism does not form a cap like traditional mushrooms. The entire structure is the spore-producing body (aethalium).

2. 2

   Gills

   Attachment to stem, color, and spacing.

   Not applicable; this organism does not produce gills.

3. 3

   Stem

   Length, shape, surface, and any ring.

   Not applicable; this organism does not produce a stem.

4. 4

   Flesh

   Color, texture, and bruising reaction.

   The internal consistency is initially soft and moist, often described as custardy or foamy. As it dries, it becomes friable and powdery due to the mature spores and capillitial threads.

5. 5

   Fruiting body

   Overall growth pattern.

   Initially, it appears as a bright yellow, creamy, or sometimes white, amorphous, cushion-like to pulvinate (cushion-shaped) mass, resembling foamy or vomited material. It can be smooth or wrinkled. As it matures, it often calcifies, becoming brittle and drying to a more crusty, off-white, yellowish, or even brownish-purple effusiveness, eventually releasing dark spores. The entire fruiting body, technically called an aethalium, can range from a few centimeters to over 20-30 cm in greatest dimension and be 1-3 cm thick.

6. 6

   Habitat

   Where it grows and on what substrate.

   Typically found on decaying wood, bark mulch, wood chips, leaf litter, and occasionally on living plants or grass. It thrives in moist, shaded environments, often after periods of rain.

Key Facts

Cap surfaces

Not applicable

Growth Form

Amorphous, cushion-like, pulvinate, effused

Spore Print

Purplish-black to black (due to the mass of dark spores)

Body color

Bright sulfur yellow, creamy white, sometimes orange or pinkish, drying to off-white, light yellow, or brownish-purple.

Odor

Indeterminate to slightly musty or ammoniacal.

Flesh bruises

Not applicable; it does not bruise in the manner of a mushroom. The color may change upon drying or disturbance as it matures and calcifies.

Height

1-3 cm (thickness)

Cap Diameter

Typically 2-30 cm (greatest dimension)

Fruit body characteristics

• Gill attachment: Not applicable
• Stem shape: Not applicable
• Stem surface: Not applicable
• Ring: Not applicable
• Stem cross-section: Not applicable

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