Day 16.198: Witches' butter

Last weekend, we were surprised to see this strange substance by the patio:

A closer look did little to clarify matters:

But it did give us enough to do a web search which turned up Fuligo septica and its delightful common name: "dog vomit slime mold". A further investigation found that it is known in the folklore of various European countries as "witches' butter" or as the vomit of troll cats.

Less disturbing names include "scrambled egg slime" and "flowers of tan" according to the Wikipedia article. Quite the fascinating addition to the beds.