Calocera cornea (Fries) Loudon
Encycl. Pl.: 1012. 1829.

Common Name: none

• Sporocarp

  Fruiting body erect, slender, cylindrical strands, usually unbranched, 1.0-1.5 cm tall, approximately 1 mm thick at the base, tapered to a narrow, obtuse tip, single or several fused to a common base; surface more or less glabrous, viscid when moist, yellow to yellow-orange; context stiff-gelatinous; odor and taste mild.

• Spores

  Spores 7.5-9.5 µm, sausage-shaped, smooth; spore print not seen.

• Habitat

  Gregarious to clustered on rotting coniferous wood; fruiting from early to mid-winter.

• Edibility

  Unknown, but too small to be of culinary value.

• Comments

  Because of its erect fruiting body, inexperienced mushroom hunters often confuse this jelly fungus with a small coral, e.g. Clavulinopsis laeticolor and/or C. fusiformis. These closely resemble Calocera cornea but can be told apart by a more brittle texture, and habitat preference-- on duff, rarely on wood. Like many jelly fungi, Calocera cornea is capable of rehydrating to its original form after drying. A related, larger, multi-branched species also found in our area is Calocera viscosa. It too has a coral look-alike: Clavulinopsis corniculata.

• References

  Lowy, B. (1971). Flora Neotropica, Monograph No. 6, Tremellales. Hafner Publishing Company: New York, NY. 154 p.
  Martin, G.W. (1944). The Tremellales of the North Central United States and Adjacent Canada. University of Iowa: Iowa City, IA. 88 p.
  Martin, G.W. (1964). Revision of the North Central Tremellales. J. Cramer: Lehre. 122 p.
  McNabb, R.F.R. (1965). Taxonomic Studies in the Dacrymycetaceae II. Calocera (Fries) Fries. New Zeal. Journ. Bot. 3: 31-58.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Michael Wood: Calocera cornea (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Calocera cornea (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Calocera cornea (CP)
  • Hidden Forest: Calocera cornea (CP)
  • Breitenbach & Kränzlin (vol. 2): sp. 1 (D, I, & CP)
  • Jordan: p. 368 (D & CP)
  
  

  (D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)