In the earlier part of the season during the time when the snow is melting in the deep woods just below the Rim, the fruiting bodies of the slime molds may be found in great numbers on the ground and on rotten logs. They are usually about one-half inch in diameter and are bright orange in color which makes them very conspicuous and easily identified. The spores are borne in great numbers in the interior of the mass.

The great group of slime molds are among the most interesting plants in existence, and their strange life history should be more commonly known. During certain stages they show the characteristics of animals, and in other stages they appear as typical plants.

In the evolutionary scheme of things in which we regard the plants and animals as having a common ancestry, we would expect to find forms of life which are not clearly differentiated into either. The slime molds are among these "missing links" that connect the two great classes of life.