Weird But True
She took it to the Special Slimes Investigations Unit.
A homeowner left internet users both horrified and perplexed after sharing photos of a nightmarish black mass lurking beneath her friend’s floorboards in Melbourne, Australia.
According to Yahoo News, the woman, named Hannah Sycamore, had learned of the sinister-looking slime from a pal, who had stumbled upon it while ripping out her floorboards.
Hoping to unravel the creepy caper, she uploaded the spine-tingling images to the Australian fungus group on Facebook with the query, “Any ideas what this is?”
Accompanying photos show the mystery ooze, whose dark tendrils are spiderwebbed across the floor like a malevolent presence from some Japanese horror film.
Facebook commenters had several theories on the identity of fungal fractals, which had even stalwart Aussies heading for the hills.
“The veins of ‘nooope’,” quipped one Facebook wit.
Others compared the tendrils to the Mind Flayer, the undulating tentacle monster from the hit Netflix series “Stranger Things.” Some online comedians joked that it was the alien symbiote “Venom” from the Marvel movies.
Meanwhile, some mycology buffs said the ooze could be either slime mold, tree roots or black mold, an insidious fungus that has been associated with a number of health concerns including breathing problems and dementia.
“Not a slime mold. A black mold is possible,” postulated Adam Labrock, the “Head Fun Guy” at the Mushroom Co, an urban fungus farm in New Zealand.
He then speculated that Armillaria (honey fungi), which often grows along tree roots, had spread beyond its host and then infiltrated the domicile.
“It’s probably something you need to get a structural engineer to look at,” Labrock concluded.
Even professional mycologists were flummoxed by the fungi.
“Without examining the fungus in person (looking at it microscopically and looking for other signatures in the structure) I can’t be 100% sure,” Dr. Patricia Kaishian, the Curator of Mycology at the New York State Museum in Albany, told the Post. “But this looks like the mycelium of ‘wet rot’ fungus called Coniophora puteana, sometimes also called ‘cellar rot’ or ‘kellerschwam’ in German.
She added, “This would be my guess, going off these photos alone.”
This isn’t the first time a fungal-looking anomaly has reared its head Down Under.
In March, an Australian town resembled the set of HBO‘s dystopian horror series “The Last of Us” after a mysterious red mass sprouted up under a fire hydrant — and eventually “climbed up the water spout.”
Daisy Hips is a science communicator who brings the wonders of the natural world to readers. Her articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to environmental conservation. Daisy is also an advocate for science education and enjoys stargazing in her spare time.
