Tremella foliacea Fries
Syst. Myc. 2: 212. 1822.

Common Name: Brown Witch's Butter

• Sporocarp

  Fruiting body 5-15 cm broad, globose to cushion-shaped, a mass of ruffled, leaf-like blades fused to a common base; surface viscid in wet weather, otherwise moist, individual blades variously wrinkled to folded, upper and lower surfaces fertile; color: dull brownish-vinaceous to cinnamon-brown, darkening in age; context thin, somewhat translucent, rubbery; odor and taste mild.

• Spores

  Spores 7-8.5 x 6-8.5 µm, subglobose to oval, smooth, nonamyloid; spores cream to pale-yellowish in deposit; basidia longitudinally septate.

• Habitat

  Usually solitary on downed hardwood logs and branches; fruiting from mid to late winter.

• Edibility

  Edible; lacking in flavor, sometimes used in soups.

• Comments

  Fruiting bodies of Tremella foliacea can grow to startling proportions, softball size or larger, a spectacular find for collectors used to seeing small globs of Yellow Witches Butter (Tremella mesenterica and Dacrymces palmatus).Although unlikely to be confused with other jellys, large specimens resemble somewhat Sparassis crispa, a member of the coral fungi group. The latter, however, has a much firmer texture, is ochraceous, not brown, and usually grows at the base of conifers, not directly on wood.

• 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.
  Roberts, P. (1999). British Tremella Species II: Tremella encephala, T. steidleri, and T. foliacea. Mycologist 13-127.
  Torkelsen, A.-E. (1968). The genus Tremella in Norway. Nytt Magasin for Botanikk 15(3): 225-239.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Michael Wood: Tremella foliacea (CP)
  • Fred Stevens: Tremella foliacea (CP)
  • Boleslaw Kuznik -- Hunting for Mushrooms: Tremella foliacea (CP)
  • Mushroom Observer: Tremella foliacea (CP)
  • Na Grzyby: Tremella foliacea (D & CP)
  • Elias Fries' fungus plates: Tremella foliacea (I)
  • R. A. Chilton: Tremella foliacea (CP)
  • Arora (1986): p. 673 (D), plate 173 (CP)
  • Breitenbach & Kränzlin (vol. 2): sp. 27 (D, I, & CP)
  • Jordan: p. 371 (D & CP)
  • Lincoff: p. 384 (D), plate 754 (CP
  • Martin: p. 77 (D), fig. 20 (I)
  • Smith & Weber: sp. 27 (D & CP)
  
  

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