English

Auricularia auricula-judae, an edible jelly fungus

Noun

jelly fungus ‎(plural jelly fungi)

1. Any of various fungi with an irregularly branched fruiting body apparently of jelly-like consistency.
   • 1968, Robert Thomas Orr, Dorothy B. Orr, Mushrooms and Other Common Fungi of Southern California, page 18,

     This yellow jelly fungus, commonly known as Witch's Butter, is seen only during the rainy season.

   • 2005, Ming Hao Pei, Carlos Bayon, Carmen Ruiz, 1: Phylogenetic Position of Melampsora in Rust Fungi Inferred from Ribosomal DNA Sequences, Ming Hao Pei, Alistair R. McCracken (editors), Rust Diseases of Willow and Poplar, page 4,

     Auricularia (jelly fungi) was placed within Hymenomycetes in the gene trees, which showed that the split between Urediniomycetes and Hymenomycetes occurred long before the split between jelly fungi and mushrooms.

   • 2010, Michael Kuo, Andy Methven, 100 Cool Mushrooms, page 185,

     Tremella fuciformis is a tropical and subtropical jelly fungus found on hardwood logs after heavy rains. It is whitish or nearly transparent, and fairly large (up to 7 cm across)—and it features graceful gelatinous lobes rather than the glob-like blobs that typify so many other jelly fungi.

Usage notes

Jelly fungi were formerly included in the (now obsolete) paraphyletic grouping Heterobasidiomycetes, but are now spread among several orders: Tremellales, Dacrymycetales, Auriculariales, and Sebacinales. The grouping Heterobasidiomycetes is still used informally.