Myxarium nucleatum
Fl. crypt. Germ. 2: 260. 1833.
Common Name: none
Synonyms: Tremella nucleata Schwein.; Exidia nucleata (Schwein.) Burt
Fruiting body sessile, at first subglobose, becoming convoluted to cerebriform, often fusing into sheet-like masses up to 20 cm long, 5 cm wide, and 0.8 cm tall; surface glabrous, translucent-white, aging pinkish-tan to vinaceous-brown, occasionally olive-brown; context gelatinous, colored like the cap, tending to liquify in old specimens, with one or more embedded, but not anchored, cream-colored nodules; odor not distinctive; taste mildly fungal.
Spores 9.0-12.0 x 4.0-5.5 µm, sausage-shaped, smooth, thin-walled, contents granular; basidia cruciate-type producing four epibasidia; spores white in deposit.
Scattered to fused into large groupings, e.g. broad rows or sheets, found usually on shaded, lower surfaces of decaying hardwood logs; ruiting throughout the winter months after rainy periods; occasional.
Unknown, but like most jelly fungi probably edible.
Myxarium nucleatum is a translucent-white jelly fungus whose principal fieldmark is the presence of whitish nodules in the context. It is sometimes confused with Tremella encephala, also whitish when young, but the latter is pale yellowish-tan, not vinaceous-brown in age. More significantly, while Tremella encephala has a whitish core which mimics the nodules of Myxarium nucleatum, it is anchored at the base, not free within the gelatinous context. Other differences include a conifer habit and spores that are ovate not sausage-shaped. Compare also with Exidia thuretiana, another hardwood inhabiting white jelly fungus. It can be distinguished by the lack of nodular inclusions and significantly larger spores.
Burt, E.A. (1921). Some North American Tremellaceae, Dacryomycetaceae, and Auriculariaceae. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 8(4): 361-396.
Desjardin, D.E., Wood, M.G. & Stevens, F.A. (2015). California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide. Timber Press: Portland, OR. 560 p.
Ellis, M.B. & Ellis, J.P. (1990). Fungi without Gills (Hymenomycetes and Gasteromycetes). Chapman and Hall: London, England. 329 p.
Lowy, B. (1971). Flora Neotropica, Monograph No. 6, Tremellales. Hafner Publishing Company: New York, NY. 154 p.
Martin, G.W. (1944). The Tremellales of the North Central United States and Adjacent Canada. University of Iowa: Iowa City, IA. 88 p.
Martin, G.W. (1964). Revision of the North Central Tremellales. J. Cramer: Lehre. 122 p.
Siegel, N. & Schwarz, C. (2016). Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast. Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, CA. 601 p.
