What does this look like？ A cookie made from whole wheat flour？

 It looks like a cookie made from whole wheat flour with a dent in the middle.

What! No way.　Something strange attached to it!

 

It's crispy on the outside and moist on the inside with an irresistible cocoa aroma and richness!

But, after looking at this photo, you would realize that it is not a cookie at all.

To tell you the truth, it's  slime mold.　It’s a fruiting body of slime mold. Its scientific name is Physarum rigidum. Its inside is filled with slime mold spores, not cocoa powder.　

Then, I will show you the process of amoeba pruducing a fruiting body.

 A yellow amoeba of slime mold is growing in a plastic container while eating oatmeal.

 When there is not enough food, the amoeba will crawl up the inside of the lid. I made one side of the container slightly higher to create a slope.

 Although this slime mold prefers mushrooms to oatmeals, I think when this slime mold produces fruiting bodies artificially, oatmeals are suitable. Because mushrooms are rich in nutrients, so it seems not to lead to the food shortage for a while. 

 If placed in a room with weak sunlight, the amoeba will change into a fruiting body in 1-2 days. Immediately after the production of fruiting bodies, it is wet and black in color. By the way, the lid measures about 23cm x 17cm.

If allowed to gradually dry over 2-3 days, it will become dry such as the first three photos.

                                   (Photos were taken on July 17th.)