![\"Barry](\"https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/07125841\/SEI_1894633911.jpg?width=1200\")
<\/div>A trio of Cribraria slime moulds<\/p>\n
Barry Webb\/IGPOTY<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n
PROVING that stunning, otherworldly nature is never too far away, these images are finalists in this year\u2019s International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) competition.<\/p>\n
Pictured above is Barry Webb\u2019s composite shot of a trio of Cribraria<\/i> slime moulds, found next to a decaying pine log in the forests of Buckinghamshire, UK, after weeks of searching. Webb\u2019s initial motivation to simply take pictures of slime moulds has developed into an \u201cobsessive quest\u201d to document as many as possible, he says, \u201calways striving to produce images that capture their otherworldly beauty\u201d.<\/p>\n
Standing at mere millimetres, these organisms were once classed as multicellular fungi, but are now considered a unique type of single-celled protozoa in their own right. It is when they merge together<\/a> in the joint hunt for food \u2013 sometimes in slimy masses, other times in pinhead-like clusters, as seen here \u2013 that they become known as slime moulds.<\/p>\n The \u201cheads\u201d of these Cribraria<\/i>, akin to tiny watermelons, are the slime mould\u2019s fruiting bodies that form when food is scarce, and from which spores are released to kick-start the life cycle once more.<\/p>\n Mycena mushroom<\/p>\n Jay Birmingham\/IGPOTY<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A Mycena<\/i> mushroom sprouting from a pinecone, photographed by Jay Birmingham in Dorset, UK, is shown above. This type of fungi<\/a> can be found throughout the UK and is characterised by a bell-like cap. Both images were shortlisted in the competition\u2019s The World of Fungi category. The IGPOTY exhibition<\/a> will be showing at Kew Gardens, London, until 10 March.<\/p>\n Topics:<\/p>\n<\/section><\/div>\n![\"Jay](\"https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/07125844\/SEI_1894633991.jpg?width=1200\")
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