Tremella mesenterica, the Yellow Brain Fungus, is
mainly seen in winter, when it grows on fallen branches of deciduous
trees. In dry weather this fungus becomes a hard orange bracket.
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You will need wet weather to find this fungus:
during dry spells it shrivels up almost completely to leave just a thin
rubbery patch on the host wood.
Initially disc-like, the fruitbody soon develops contortions
resembling the structure of a brain.
Yellow Brain fungus grows on dead timber from all kinds of broad-leaf
trees, but it is particularly common on fallen branches of birch. |
Late summer and autumn are the best times to
look for this species, which is inedible (and in any case is too
insubstantial to be worth collecting for food). |
Size |
Individual fruit bodies grown to between 2 and
8 cm across. |
Description
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Golden yellow when damp, turning orange and
shrivelling to a tiny fraction of its former size during very dry weather;
gelatinous; no distinctive smell or taste. |
Spores |
White. |
Odour/taste |
Not distinctive. |
Habitat |
On dead and decaying hardwood, especially
birch, ash and hazel. Occasionally found also on decaying gorse wood. |
Season |
Throughout the year but most prevalent in late
autumn and early winter. |
Occurrence |
Frequent and widespread. |
Similar species |
- Tremella lutescens is cream when dry and sulphur yellow when
wet.
- Tremella foliacea is brown and has a lobed structure.
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