Research Catalog

Title

Myxomycetes : a handbook of slime molds / Steven L. Stephenson and Henry Stempen.

Author

Stephenson, Steven L.

Publication

Portland, Or. : Timber Press, [1994], ©1994.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

Stempen, Henry.

Description

183 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color); 24 cm

Summary

• Hidden in the leaf litter and other moist, shady places of woodlands and gardens lives a remarkable group of organisms. Myxomycetes - A Handbook of Slime Molds introduces observers to the lives of these organisms, which are distinguished by a cycle of changes that are quite beautiful, if often in miniature.
• Myxomycetes have some characteristics in common with the true molds or fungi, most noticeably the production of colorful spore-producing structures. But their affinity with other, more "primitive" living things is borne out by their alternating motile phase, in which individual cells coalesce into an amoeba-like plasmodium, able to creep about over the surface and also often brightly colored.
• Virtually all the species one is most likely to encounter are included. Steven Stephenson and Henry Stempen have written a field guide to a group of organisms for which guides have not been generally available. Yet this is not just a guide to the identification of slime molds.
• There is extensive information on myxomycetes as living organisms: their structural features, their distribution in sometimes surprising habitats such as snowbanks and deserts, and their ecological associations with plants and animals. Since they are best studied as living beings, simple methods for culturing myxomycetes are included.
• . Detailed watercolor portraits, pen-and-ink drawings, and photographs illustrate the forms and features of the various life stages of myxomycetes. These superb illustrations are a valuable part of the use of the book as a ready reference for anyone with an abiding interest in the beauty and diversity of the natural world. References, a comprehensive glossary, and an index complete the work.

Subject

• Myxomycetes > Handbooks, manuals, etc

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 169-177) and index.

Contents

1. Introduction to Myxomycetes. What are Myxomycetes? Life Cycles. Other Slime Molds. Biological Research with Myxomycetes -- 2. Structural Features of Myxomycetes. The Plasmodium. Types of Fruiting Bodies. Components of a Fruiting Body -- 3. Collection, Culture, and Study of Myxomycetes. Collection of Myxomycetes in Nature. Moist Chamber Cultures. Preparation of Material for Study -- 4. Distribution of Myxomycetes Around the World. Geographical Distribution. Snowbank Species. High-Latitude Species. Desert Species. Species Associated with Particular Habitats -- 5. Ecology of Myxomycetes. Trophic Stages. Substrate Relationships. Fruiting Season. Insect Associates. Myxomyceticolous Fungi. Bryophyte-Myxomycete Associations. Myxomycete-Human Relationships -- 6. Classification and Identification. Taxonomic Names. Keys to Orders and Selected Species. Descriptions of Species.

ISBN

0881922773 ; (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

93031302

OCLC

ocm28665884

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries