Calocera cornea - Small Stagshorn

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Dacrymycetes

Order: Dacrymycetales

This unbranching jelly fungus, with tiny fruitbodies usually shorter than the thickness of a finger, can be seen on trunks and twigs of deciduous broadleaf trees.

Small Stagshorn looks rather like a club fungus; however, it is much less brittle and microscopic examination reveals that it has distinctive Y-shaped basidia, which are diagnostic characteristics of members of the order Dacrymycetales.

Identification Guide

	Fruitbody Yellow (in dry weather becoming more orange); greasy and viscid, with curved, blunt or pointed horns that are only very rarely forked; clustered in non-merging groups; 2 to 10mm tall and typically 1mm dia.
Spores	White or very pale yellow.
Odour/taste	Not distinctive.
Habitat	On rotting trunks and stumps of dead broadleaf trees and very occasionally on conifers.
Season	Fruiting through most of the year, but particularly prevalent in autumn.
Occurrence	Widespread and very common.
Similar species	Calocera viscosa is much larger and has branches emanating from a short trunk. Calocera cornea could also be confused with some of the Ramaria species of coral fungi, but the greasysurface and rubbery texture are obvious distinguishing features.