The winner of the category this year – by the way, the category of slime mold of the year was only introduced in 2023 – is the eggshell slime mold (Leocarpus fragilis), which certainly bears a prettier name in Latvian – the 'fragile droplet'.
It bears such a name for a reason – when young, this fungus looks like colorful beads on moss or other plans. It is mostly observed at the end of summer or beginning of autumn. At first the beads are yellow or light orange, later dark orange, brick red, brown, or chestnut-colored.
The Latvian Mycologist Society said that the eggshell slime mold is among the 15 most common slime molds in Latvia, but the only one in the world in its genus. As of the end of 2023, there were 252 types of slime molds in Latvia.
