This lifeform is widespread in North America. This lifeform is found in wooded areas. This lifeform is widespread, but not common.
Slime Molds (Myxophyta) can be broken up into three major groups: Myxomyceteae, Acrasieae, Labyrinthuleae. Myxomyceteae group can be likened to a colony of Amoeba-like animals living together. Generally, there are no cell walls between the different Amoebas, so the organisms appear in many respects like a single giant Amoeba with many nuclei. Acrasieae are similar to the Myxomyceteae, but the individual cells retain their identity, and they do not share a common protoplasm. Labyrinthuleae are a group of multi-cellular slime molds without fruiting bodies.
Most fungi are parasites on plants. Identification of many fungi is very difficult because their form and color is dependent on local conditions. One should not eat wild collected mushrooms as many edible species have poisonous look-alikes. Although we believe many of the species we show in this group are correctly identified, we are also aware of instances where we doubt the identification. We include these species to show the diversity of life, as opposed to a method of precise species identification.