A mass fruiting of Physarum confertum in West Virginia

During June and early July of 2000, a mass fruiting of Physarum confertum occurred on the Fernow Experimental Forest and adjacent areas of the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia. At some localities, it was estimated that there >10 fruitings per 100 m2. Many of the fruitings were quite large, sometimes exceeding 10 to 15 cm in total extent. In almost 25 years of collecting throughout West Virginia at the time, the first co-author had not previously encountered this species. Just what factor triggered the mass fruiting is unknown, but the occurrence of fruitings of the same species of myxomycete in a particular locality is not an uncommon phenomenon.