Jellys

[Hunter]

Just beginning here, unsure of how to procede. Hope to post a picture of yesterday's haul. I've positively identified some as wood ears but not absolutely positive of the others. I'm using my iPad so I'm unsure how to attach files. I'll try to do a paste first..

[Hunter]

Thought I'd attached a picture after the paste option didn't appear.

[Hunter]

What a horrible picture! It looks so much better in full size. Sorry folks. I'll do better.

[Dave W]

Hunter, what is your location?

Like you say, the photo is a bit blurry. Regardless, identifying fungi from photos is tricky. Much of time our discussions tend more toward making suggestions than actual positive IDs. Learning to ID particular fungal species often entails appealing to multiple sources, and studying multiple collections.

Those jelly fungi pictured may be Tree Ears (Auricularia species). Another possibility is Exidia. In particular, Exidia recisa often forms ear-like fruit bodies, and it can be tricky distinguishing between Auricularia and E. recisa. One difference is that Auricularia tends to be firmer, more resilient. Exidia fruit bodies are softer, floppier, more elastic, and the individual ears usually don't get to be more than 2 inches wide. Exidia recisa is often found during late winter into spring. Auricularia may appear at different times of year, but spring seems to be when is occurs most frequently, sometimes early spring.

Here's a good discussion regarding an Exidia recisa post made to Mushroom Observer.

http://mushroomobserver.org/64599?_js=on&_new=true&q=1mXDo

Another jelly that is somewhat similar is Tremella foliacea. Tremella foliacea mainly occurs late summer through fall, but also during winter thaws.

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/tremella_foliacea.html

Also, Pachyella clypeata is small gelatinous cup fungus that grows on wood.

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/pachyella_clypeata.html

Other various cup fungi such as Peziza are brittle-fleshed.

Based upon seeing clusters of smallish fruit bodies in the photo, my guess for Hunter's collection is Exidia recisa.

[Hunter]

Thanks Dave. I notice you' frequent the site and display a lot of 'shroomin' expertise. I've been on the steep slope of the leatning curve. Just got serious about finding and maybe growing fungi last fall. I'm in a dry micro-climate in central NC, halfway between Raleigh and Fayetteville. Still, to my surprise I found pleurotis, trametes versicolor, D. Lucidum, giant puffballs and Lions Mane in short order. My references so far are many on-line sites and Stamets' book on growing mushrooms. Found yellow morels years ago and knew what they were. Have identified stinkhorns to my disappointment. Plan on getting some black paper to add to my white for spore prints.

That brings up a question. Do you recommend getting a microscope for identifying gilled types, and if so is 400 pwr okay?

[Dave W]

I'm still learning about using a microscope. For the past 10 years I have used an old student scope that I got from the bio dept at the community college where I work. Currently looking at upgrades. According to some advice I've received, 400x is good enough to see lots of traits, with image quality being most important. But I'm leaning toward getting a scope that maxes at 1000x.

If you hope to get to a point where subtle ID distinctions are desired, then a scope is necessary. My old beat-up scope has actually helped me learn quite a bit.

The black/white dual medium is what I recommend for observing spore prints. A spore print that is relatively thin can be difficult to interpret.

If there's a mushroom club in your area, I recommend you join.

[Hunter]

Thanks much, Dave. I wish you a wet spring and good hunting.

[Hunter]

I have a tentative id of the more amorphous globs as Exida Recissa, found them in central NC and Atlanta, Ga during wet periods in late fall and through the winter, even frozen solid. I've only observed them on small (pencil thin to 2 in. dia.) dead oak limbs. Not that I have any dead willows to check. I can't pull them whole from the branches because of their gelatinous nature and the size of the limbs I find them on makes cutting a little difficult. Witches butter then?

[Dave W]

One of the alternatives previously suggested was Tremella foliacea, aka Brown Witches' Butter. But I'd still bet on Exidia recisa for the ones seen above. E. recisa is very common during early spring in my area, presumably during late winter in SE NA. The collection pictured shows a few ear-like fruit bodies and other individual portions. Tremella tends to form globs of jelly that are not easily separable into individual pieces.

[Hunter]

Good again Dave, there are two different mushrooms in that fuzzy picture, what I agree is the Exida Recisa and a less common one, for our area, much more distinctively ear-like, that I only found on March 7 and thereafter. I think they're Auricularia Auricula based on the pictures I've searched out but growing in a more uniform shape than any of those pictures, perhaps because they were uncrowded. They too were growing on oak, these on limbs larger than 3 inches and on felled tree trunks. I haven't done any spore prints yet to differentiate them.

I will get a camera with a good macro fcn.

[Dave W]

Okay, I see the ones in the upper left-hand corner are more uniformly ear-like, and these may be Auricularia. But I would not rule out E. recisa even for these. I have found E. recisa fruit bodies in individual ear-shapes. I believe the jellies seen in the photo posted below are E. recisa. Found last April.

[Hunter]

And your pic is exactly like the ones in my "photo." Found a great many today along with a load of tiny yellow jellys.

One further note. I have yet, in my limited experience, to find both on the same piece of wood. Maybe just a coincidence.

[Hunter]

(Based on less than 5 months observation.) Noticed something today about the jellys. The E recisa comes on around here weeks before the black witches butter which I found today in great masses on oak logs in excess of 18 in. dia. The yellow jellys are also plentiful now along with the first two. Aparently the black and yellow like the weather a little warmer?

[Dave W]

Here in PA I find a Brown Witches Butter (T. foliacea) in cool/cold weather. i found some during a thaw this past January. Yellow jellies like T. mesenterica (Witches Butter) and Dacrymyces palmatus (Falso Witches Butter) also seem to like cool weather. I don't really see these types having a well-defined fruiting season. They can be expected throughout the year. E. recisa seems to be a springtime fungus in my area.