Is this weird, or what? When I first saw these things on the picnic tables at our local nature reserve, I thought that someone or something had been eviscerating the water snails in the pond. Once I got close up, I could see that they were some type of organism growing on the weathered and lichen-covered wood. They looked like spiralling translucent worms. I think what they actually are is a type of jelly fungus. Yes, there really is such a thing. It is a grouping of species known as Heterobasidiomycetes. I wonder if this could be the spookily named Crystal or White Brain Fungus (Exidia nucleata or E. thuretiana); or a variation of Witches Butter (Trememella mesenterica). It is not typical of T. mesenterica because that is yellow, or orange colour and hard when dry. This is pale or semi-clear, bloated and softly gelatinous. It had been raining very hard for several days prior and I think this could explain the difference in appearance from the normal presentation. Maybe it is Tripe Fungus.

If anyone can confidently identify this I would love to hear from them.

6 Replies to “Jelly Fungus 1”

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