Minnesota Seasons - Jellied False Coral Fungus

Conservation • Description • Habitat • Ecology • Distribution • Taxonomy


Conservation Status
IUCN Red List	not listed
NatureServe	not listed
Minnesota	not listed

Description

This would be by far the most common coral fungus in the world – were it, in fact, a coral fungus. Although Jellied False Coral Fungus looks like a coral fungus, microscopic features and recent DNA studies show that it is a jelly fungus. It obtains its nutrients from the roots of hardwood trees (mycorrhizal) but does not penetrate individual cells within the root. It is found on the ground near hardwood trees in woods and forests.

The fruiting body is a 1¼″ to 4″ long, 2″ to 6″ wide cluster of tightly packed, branched stems. The branches are erect, flattened, fused together, leathery, and dry. Ther are not brittle, and they are not gelatinous. They are whitish to buff at first, often becoming green with algae as it ages.

The spore print is white.

It is edible but rubbery and unpalatable.

Similar Species

True coral fungi are brittle, not leathery.

Habitat and Hosts

Deciduous or mixed woods

Ecology

Season

Spring to fall


Distribution
		Sources 4, 7, 24, 26, 29, 30, 77.
8/4/2024

Occurrence
Common and widespread. More common than true coral fungi.


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

This species was formerly classified as Tremellodendron pallidum. A molecular and morphological study on Sebacinales published in 2014 proposed moving Tremellodendron species into the genus Sebacina. The name Tremellodendron pallidum was based on a taxonomic error in 1915, but it was widely accepted. With the move to the new genus that error was corrected and the species epithet schweinitzii was applied.

Subordinate Taxa


Synonyms
Sebacina pallida Thelephora pallida Thelephora schweinitzii Tremellodendron pallidum Tremellodendron schweinitzii

Common Names
False Coral False Coral Fungus False Coral Mushroom Jellied False Coral Jellied False Coral Fungus

Glossary

Mycorrhizal

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


Visitor Photos

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Luciearl


Kathy Clapp


Kirk Nelson

False Coral fungi along the Bluff Trail, Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Long Meadow Lake Unit


Sally Shea

not sure what kind of coral mushroom this is.


Steve Thompson


Trista

noticed it growing under an oak in our backyard, Hennepin Co.


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Other Videos

False Corel, Jelly Fungi-white
The Roaming Gnome...Glenn Munro

About

Published on May 26, 2015

False Coral, Jelly Fungus- Tremellodendron pallidum; Occurs same time as other jellies I collected late May 2015 Central Missouri. Identification rating for accuracy 75% sure. Edibility: Recorded to upset stomach...if not prepared correctly. Food allergies.

Camcorder


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