Jelly fungi have a gelatinous or rubbery texture and are so-called because of their jelly-like appearance. They come in assorted shapes, from brain-like to ear-shaped, and are found on dead wood. When dry they shrivel and turn hard, but they rehydrate and return to their original form when wet.
Name: Leafy Brain Tremella foliacea
Description: In dry conditions the fruiting bodies shrivel to hard blackish crusts becoming hard to spot. When the fungus rehydrates it becomes translucent again.
Habitat: Found on deciduous dead wood where it feeds on the wood-rotting fungus Hairy Curtain Crust Stereum hirsutum.
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Name: Witches' Butter Exidia glandulosa
Description: Fruiting bodies attach to the wood using tiny stems. After prolonged wet weather they become plump and fleshy.
Habitat: Grows on deciduous deadwood late in the year.
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Name: Warlock's Butter Exidia nigricans
Description: Sometimes mistaken for Exidia glandulosa, however this has brain-like folds instead of being comprised of blocks with flattish sides. Previously known as Exidia plana.
Habitat: Found on deciduous trees such as ash, beech and hazel, but not often on oak.
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