White Coral Jelly Fungus

(Sebacina sparassoidea)

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

Minnesota

not listed

 
White Coral Jelly Fungus
Photo by Greg Watson
 
Description

White Coral Jelly Fungus is a common, fairly large, terrestrial fungus. It occurs in the United States from Maine to Virginia, west to Minnesota and Missouri, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to Georgia. There are also a few records in Florida and in the Pacific Northwest. It also occurs in southern Canada from Nova Scotia to Ontario, and in Mexico.

White Coral Jelly Fungus was previously thought to be parasitic on other wood-inhabiting fungi. The exact biology is now uncertain. It may be mycorrhizal, getting its nutrients from the rootlets of plants, or saprobic, getting its nutrients from rotting wood. It is found from July to October, solitary or scattered, in hardwood forests. It usually grows on the ground, especially under oak, often near stumps. It sometimes grows on well-rotted wood.

When it first appears, it is a mass of branches rising from the ground in a common central area. The branches are white, flattened, hollow, and bluntly pointed at the tip. As the fruiting body ages, the branches become repeatedly branched. The branchlets come together, rejoin, and fuse (anastomosing). The mature fruiting body is 1 to 3 (2.5 to 8.0 cm) high and 1 to 6 (3.5 to 15.0 cm) wide. The branches are creamy white to slightly brownish. They are gelatinous, somewhat cylinder shaped or “finger-like”, firm, and elastic. When bent, twisted, or compressed, they will spring back into their original shape. The tips are rounded. The surface is smooth.

The edibility is unknown.

The spore print is white.

 

Similar Species

 
Habitat and Hosts

 

Ecology

Season

July to October

Distribution

Distribution Map

 

Sources

4, 24, 26, 29, 30, 77.

Burt, E.A. (1921). Some North American Tremellaceae, Dacryomycetaceae, and Auriculariaceae. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 8(4): 361-396.

12/3/2024    
     

Occurrence

Common

Taxonomy

Kingdom

Fungi (fungi)

Subkingdom

Dikarya

Phylum

Basidiomycota (club fungi)

Subphylum

Agaricomycotina (jelly fungi, yeasts, and mushrooms)

Class

Agaricomycetes (mushrooms, bracket fungi, puffballs, and allies)

Order

Sebacinales

Family

Sebacinaceae

Genus

Sebacina

   

Higher Ranking
MycoBank lists this species as Tremella sparassoidea in the family Exidiaceae, the order Auriculariales, and in the subclass Auriculariales. In this they appear unique.

Genus
This species was originally described as Corticium tremellinum var. reticulatum in 1873. In 1908 it was moved to the genus Tremella as the full species Tremella reticulata. Based on biology, it was moved in 2003 the genus Sebacina as Sebacina sparassoidea.

   

Subordinate Taxa

 
   

Synonyms

Corticium reticulatum

Corticium tremellinum

Corticioides reticulatum

Tremella incisa

Tremella reticulata

Tremella sparassoidea

   

Common Names

White Coral Jelly

White Coral Jelly Fungus

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Anastomosing

Referring to veins, such as on a plant leaf or a lichen, that branch and rejoin, forming a network.

 

Mycorrhizal

A symbiotic, usually beneficial relationship between a fungus and the tiny rootlets of a plant, usually a tree.

 

Saprobic

A term often used for saprotrophic fungi. Referring to fungi that obtain their nutrients from decayed organic matter.

 

 

 

 

 

Visitor Photos
 

Share your photo of this fungus.

 

This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Attach one or more photos and, if you like, a caption.

Greg Watson

White Coral Jelly Fungus
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
   

 

   

 

 

Camera

Slideshows

 

 
 

 

slideshow

Visitor Videos
 

Share your video of this fungus.

 

This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link.

 

 

 
 
Other Videos

 

 
 

 

Camcorder

Visitor Sightings
 

Report a sighting of this fungus.

 

This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Be sure to include a location.

Greg Watson
8/20/2024

Location: Eagles Bluff Park, La Crescent

White Coral Jelly Fungus
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings

 

 

 

Binoculars

 

Created: 12/3/2024

Last Updated:

© MinnesotaSeasons.com. All rights reserved.

About Us

Privacy Policy

Contact Us