Nostoc commune

I’ve posted several Alerts over the years about the ancient cyanobacterium, Nostoc commune (Nc) and always cautioned that the mucilaginous mass can be as slippery as ice. I now have face-to-turf experience. Thankfully, the only thing hurt was my pride.

April showers are bringing forth rubbery yellowish-green or bluish-black blobs of the cyanobacterium, Nostoc commune (Nc). The ballooning blobs are the hydrated form of this ancient organism. Most of the time, it looks like a black, crusty substance devoid of life.

Recent heavy rainfall across Ohio has been very beneficial to the cyanobacterium, Nostoc commune (NC). Of course, that's not the name that most Ohioans will use to refer to this ancient organism. E-mails and phone calls to horticulture professionals may describe it as rubbery yellowish-green or bluish-black growth rising from the soil; some may just describe it as "the blob."

I received an e-mail message earlier this week with images showing colonies of a cyanobacterium, Nostoc commune, growing in openings created by turfgrass succumbing to some other issue. The sender asked me to identify the "black stuff" they believed was killing their lawn.