Leotia lubrica - Jellybaby

Leotia lubrica - Jelly babies

Taxonomy

Phylum: Ascomycota

Class: Leotiomycetes

Order: Leotiales

Family: Leotiaceae

Commonly known as Jellybabies, these rubbery fungi look superficially like cap-and-stem mushrooms, but beneath the irregular caps the surface is smooth rather than being gilled. Despite their common name, these innocuous-looking little fungi are inedible.

Although the specimens shown here are lemon yellow, it is not uncommon to find golden yellow or even orange Jellybabies; the caps are often furrowed and convoluted rather than smooth, shiny and neatly domed.

Identification guide

Caps of Leotia lubrica

Cap

The caps are initially round but soon develop wavy margins. Up to 15mm across, but more commonly 8 to 10mm, they are smooth, shiny and usually greenish brown or yellowish.

Stem

Typically 2 to 4cm tall, the stems are 5 to 7mm across and sometimes slightly flattened with a roughish (scurfy) surface and soft, jelly-like pale flesh inside.

Spore print

White.

Odour/taste

Not distinctive.

Habitat

In deciduous woodland, often beside footpaths or growing on the banks of drainage ditches, particularly among damp mosses of concealed under bracken.

Season

August to October.

Occurrence

Fairly common but localised