Myxomycetes: A Handbook of Slime Molds [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

~ (Author), Henry Stempen (Author) "A decaying log or stump seems an unlikely place to find one of nature's most extraordinary creatures..." (more)
Key Phrases: moist chamber cultures, lime nodes, sessile sporangia, North America, Persoon Figure, Rostafinski Figure (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Excellent book that will undoubtedly increase awareness and appreciation of myxomycetes. I recommend it highly. (D.S.H., Mycotaxon, April-June 1995 )

Profusely illustrated . . . Most readable. (Plant Talk, April 2000 )

Profusely illustrated . . . Most readable. -- Plant Talk, April 2000

The aim of this book is to introduce slime moulds to the public and this it does admirably. (A. Feest, New Phytol, Vol 132 1996 )

The aim of this book is to introduce slime moulds to the public and this it does admirably. -- A. Feest, New Phytol, Vol 132 1996

This handbook goes a long way toward revealing the otherworldly beauty of the myxomycetes. (HortIdeas, March 2000 )

This handbook goes a long way toward revealing the otherworldly beauty of the myxomycetes. -- HortIdeas, March 2000

This handbook should certainly stimulate interest and study of the myxomycetes. (Vernon Ahmadjian, The Bryologist, Vol 98 1995 )

This handbook should certainly stimulate interest and study of the myxomycetes. -- Vernon Ahmadjian, The Bryologist, Vol 98 1995

Product Description

The myxomycetes, or slime molds, are among the most fascinating organisms in the world. This book identifies all the species one is likely to encounter, with extensive information on their structural features, distribution, and ecological associations. Superbly illustrated and with keys, it is an introduction to their biology as well as a field guide

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Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Timber Press, Incorporated (February 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881924393
• ISBN-13: 978-0881924398
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #771,243 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As Strange as Any Life from Mars Could be!, March 25, 2004

By	David B Richman (Mesilla Park, NM USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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The slime molds are generally little noticed, but very strange life forms that could easily fit in a science fiction book. The swarm cells and myxamoebae unite to form first an amoeboid zygote, then the strange, crawling, plasmodium stage, and finally the fungus-like fruiting body. The plasmodia can be (in the case of Fuligo) large yellow pulsating crawling blobs that suddenly appear on people's lawns. Others are less noticeable, but often brightly colored. I have seen one of these plasmodia in my life- a bright pink blob that disappeared into the ground when I raised a rotting log in the Pinaleno Mountains of Arizona. I was certainly startled!

Stephenson and Stempen have written an excellent book on these strange critters in "Myxomycetes: A Handbook of Slime Molds." It fills a gap in the literature on natural history. It is my hope that more people will be able to appreciate these neat organisms through the descriptions, excellent line drawings and well-rendered color plates.

I will disagree with one reviewer's dislike of the describer's name after the scientific name, however. It is there for the convenience of other taxonomist as least as much as the vanity of the describer. If I know that Physarum nutans was described by Persoon it tells me something about where I should look for the original description and may also give me some idea of when the name probably originated. Also Physarum cinereum (Batsch) Persoon tells me that Batsch wrote the original description, but placed the species in a different genus, which was than changed to the present genus by Persoon. Thus such "vain" additions are often important to other workers in the field.

I do agree with the same reviewer that some further discussion of how slime molds are classified might have helped an otherwise excellent book. However, I am also fully aware that the classification is still in flux and no final answers may yet be possible until DNA studies are done (and maybe not even then!).

Read this book if you find the weirdness of the world fascinating! Better still, use it to find and identify slime molds. Good hunting.

12 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent - with 3 caveats, January 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Myxomycetes: A Handbook of Slime Molds (Hardcover)

Overall I cannot find enough praise for the book. Clearly written, lavishly illustrated with exquisite line-drawings, and even the luxury of coloured plates! My three criticisms below can only be seen in the context of lavish praise which this volume richly deserves.

However...........

1. Chaper 6. Classification. Pages 70-71.

The classification diagram is fine. But it would have been very helpful to mention the class, division and kingdom in which myxomcetes belong. Thus enabling the reader to appreciate the place of Myxomycetes in the tree of all earthly life.

2. Chapter 6. Identification. Pages 72ff.

The novice's efforts to itentify a slime mould would be greatly assisted by taking one step back, before presenting the excellent dichotomous trees. We need an acid test to decide whether what is before our eyes is indeed a slime mould, and not e.g. a lichen, fungus, moss..... It is pointless to apply the dichotomous (how I love that word!) tests to something which is not in fact a slime mould at all!

2. Chapter 6. Descriptions (names). Pages 87ff.

As a matter of passionately held principle I object to the odious practice of adding discoveres' names to the scientific names of species. As the authors will be aware, there are strongs movement to put an end to this appalling habit which -

a. Detracts from the scientific objectivity of the naming scheme, by obtrusive name-dropping. Imagine the ridicule resulting from the spread of this practice to other sciences, where we might well stumble upon the ...

electron (Thompson) Milligan, neutron Chadwick neutrino (Yukawa) Dirac

b. Leads to such ugly and unfelicitous expressions as....

Trichia varia (Persoon) Persoon

.....surely a case of the tail wagging the dog!

c. Adds nothing to the intrinsic nature of the species. Presumably Physarella oblongata would still have existed, exactly as it now is, even if it had never been identified by (Berkley & Curtis) Morgan! Or indeed before any human beings evolved!

To avoid continual irritation I have typ-exed out all mention of discoverers' names in my copy of this otherwise splendid book!