Community find

White Jelly Fungus

Tremella fuciformis

Group

jelly fungus

Spore print

White

Size

Fruiting bodies generally range from 2 to 7 cm across and 2 to 4 cm high.

Season

Primarily late summer and autumn, but can appear year-round in humid tropical and subtropical climates after heavy rain.

Habitat

Grows on the dead wood of broadleaf trees. Historically associated with specific host fungi in the genus Annulohypoxylon or Hypoxylon, which it parasitizes.

Distribution

Widespread in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide, including Asia, Central America, and the southeastern United States.

Key characteristics

Gelatinous, watery consistency when wet, becoming bone-like or thin when dry. Translucent white to creamy white color. Branched, seaweed-like lobes or ruffles. Surface is smooth and slimy to the touch.

Fruiting body

Fruiting body is a branched, gelatinous mass of graceful, undulating lobes. These lobes are thin, translucent, and often described as looking like a white carnation flower or seaweed. There is no distinct stipe or cap; the entire structure is the hymenophore.

How to recognise it

Look for pure white, translucent, gelatinous lobes growing on hardwood logs. It often appears after significant rain and will shrivel into a hard, yellowish film when dry.

Look-alikes

Ductifera pululahuana (White Brain Fungus) which is typically more globose and less foliose; Exidia nucleata which contains small white mineral deposits (nuclei) within the jelly.

Ecological role

Mycoparasitic (parasitizes the mycelium of crust fungi in the genus Annulohypoxylon) rather than being a primary wood-decomposer.

Notes

This fungus is unique because it is a yeast-like organism that only forms its gelatinous fruiting body when it encounters its host fungus. It is a hallmark species in the study of fungal parasitism.