Jelly Rot

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

not listed

Minnesota

not listed

Jelly Rot, also called Trembling Crust, is a wood-rotting fungus. It is found in Europe, Asia, and North and Central America. In the united States it is common from the East Coast to the Midwest and on the West Coast. It is less common in Minnesota, where it is at the western edge of its range. It obtains its nutrients from dead wood (saprobic). It grows flat (resupinate), alone or in groups, mostly on stumps and fallen branches of deciduous trees, especially oak and beech, occasionally also on wood of coniferous trees. It sometimes appears in overlapping clusters.

The fruiting body is a 2″ to 4″ long, ¾″ to 1½″ wide, irregularly shaped patch of pore surface spread out flat (effused) on a branch or log (substrate). It is pale and lies completely flat (resupinate) when young. As it matures it darkens and the upper edge folds back more than 90° creating a bracket-like cap. Adjacent patches often fuse together covering extensive areas.

The lower surface is the only visible part when no caps are present. It is yellowish to brownish-orange to pinkish-orange when young, becoming orange to red when mature. The flesh is translucent, flexible, rubbery, and somewhat jelly-like. It has a shallow, elaborate network of narrow ridges, 1 ⁄32″ to 1 ⁄16″ wide furrows, and crossveins. It looks something like a tube surfacebut unlike a true tube surface, spore-producing structures (basidia) cover the entire networked layer.

The caps, when present, are narrow, up to ¾″ long, white to pale yellow, and densely covered with woolly hairs. There is no stem.

The flesh is very thin, whitish, and waxy or gelatinous. It is not edible.

The spore print is white.

Similar Species

Wrinkled Crust (Phlebia radiata) does not produce caps.

Mostly hardwoods, especially oak and beech

Season

Late spring through fall