Dacrymyces stillatus
Syst. Pilze: 89. 1816.
Common Name: none
Synonym: Dacrymyces deliquescens
Fruit body 1-3.5 mm broad, sometimes appearing larger when fused with adjacent sporocarps; cushion shaped, slightly flattened, the surface knobby, but not truly lobed; context gelatinous; color variable: dull orange when fresh, in age somewhat translucent, pale dull-brown, grey-brown, olive-brown, retaining only a slight orange hue; fresh material drying rusty-brown, forming an inconspicuous crust on the substrate, capable of reviving with moisture; odor and taste mild.
Basidia, tuning fork shaped. Basidiospores according to G. W. Martin, 14-16 x 4.5-6 µm, sausage shaped, 3-septate at maturity, orange in mass. Asexual spores (arthrospores) 11-16 x 3-3.5 microns, usually with a single cross wall, often in chains.
Gregarious or in large groups on conifer wood, fruiting whenever moisture is available.
Far too small to be of culinary value.
This small orange jelly is abundant in the Bay Area, fruiting on the fallen branches and cones of Monterey pine (Pinus radiata). It can be distinguished from two other common jelly fungi, Dacrymyces palmatus and Tremella mesenterica by its smaller size and shape which is pulvinate (cushion-like), rather than convoluted and lobed. It is among the first fungi to appear after a rain, the dried, crust-like fruiting bodies quickly regaining their gelatinous texture. It sometimes can be found fruiting with Exidia glandulosa, Black Witches Butter.
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