Guepinia helvelloides
Description
Guepinia helvelloides is a widespread fungus known for its distinct shape, rubbery texture, and orange to salmon-pink color. This saprobic jelly fungus dries out but can rehydrate with rain, producing new spores each time.
Although this mushroom is edible, it's quite bland and lacks significant culinary value. It can be boiled, fried, and used as a salad garnish.
Notably, extracts from G. helvelloides have shown anti-tumor effects. When administered to white mice at a dose of 300 mg/kg, these extracts from the mycelial culture inhibited the growth of Sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich solid cancers by 100% (Ohtsuka et al., 1973).
Common names: Apricot Jelly, Apricot Jelly Mushroom, Candied Red Jelly Mushroom, Salmon Salad, German (Rötlicher Gallerttrichter, Fleischroter Gallerttrichter, Malchusohr).
Mushroom Identification
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Fruiting Body
1.18 to 3.94 inches (3 to 10 cm) cm in height, 1.18 to 2.76 inches (3 to 7 cm) in width, and 2-3.5 mm in thickness, this fungus is translucent and takes on various shapes—funnel-shaped, tongue-shaped, or blade-shaped. It is inverted with a pitted or wavy edge, and its base extends into a cone-shaped stem that narrows downward. The surface is covered in white mycelium, giving it a pubescent appearance. Initially, the outer surface is smooth and orange or orange-red, but it later becomes wrinkled, veined, and covered with a whitish coating. On the other hand, the inner surface is smooth and starts off as orange-red, turning brown over time.
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Odor and Taste
No distinct smell or taste.
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Spore Print
White in color.
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Habitat
Grows on the ground or decayed wood under conifers. Found mostly in summer and fall, sometimes in winter in warmer areas. Originally identified in France, widespread in Europe, and common in parts of North America (Northeast, northern Midwest, Mexico, Pacific Northwest), also present in the Caribbean, South America, and Asia (rarely).
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Microscopic Features
Spores are ellipsoid, about 10-11 x 5.5-7 µm in size, with an apiculus, smooth, and clear when treated with KOH. Basidia are ovoid, longitudinally septate, with four sterigmata. No cystidia were discovered. Contextual hyphae are smooth, sometimes become gelatinous, 1-3 µm wide, and transparent in KOH. Clamp connections are present.
Look-Alikes
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Similar in texture but is much browner, more contorted in shape, and nearly always found above ground on dead Elder.
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Similar in shape but it is less flexible and has a gilled hymenial surface.
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Similar in shape and texture and sometimes in color but it has a gilled hymenial surface.
History
In 1778, Dutch botanist Nicolaus Joseph von Jacquin gave this fungus the scientific name Tremella rufa. The current name was set by Elias Magnus Fries in 1828.
Some experts classify Guepinia under the Exidiaceae family.
The term "helvelloides" in the species name means 'resembling a Helvella', which has more twisted caps than Guepinia helvelloides.
Synonyms
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Tremella rufa Jacquin (1778), Miscellanea austriaca, 1, p. 143, tab. 14
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Helvella rufa (Jacquin) Schrank (1789), Baiersche flora, 2, p. 581
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Tremella helvelloides de Candolle (1805)
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Gyrocephalus juratensis Persoon (1824), Mémoires de la Société linnéenne de Paris, 3, p. 77
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Guepinia rufa (Jacquin) Beck (1884), Flora von Hernstein in Niederösterreich und der weiteren Umgebung, p. 302
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Phlogiotis rufa (Jacquin) Quélet (1886), Enchiridion fungorum in Europa media et praesertim in Gallia vigentium, p. 202
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Gyrocephalus rufus (Jacquin) Brefeld (1888), Untersuchungen aus dem gesammtgebiete der mykologie, 7, p. 131
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Gyrocephalus helvelloides (de Candolle) Keissler (1914), Beihefte zum botanischen centralblatt, zweite abteilung, 31, p. 461
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Phlogiotis helvelloides (de Candolle) G.W. Martin (1936), American journal of botany, 23(9), p. 628
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Tremiscus helvelloides (de Candolle) Donk (1958), Taxon, 7, p. 164
Video
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