Sebacina schweinitzii

Description

Sebacina schweinitzii is a coral mushroom is in the family Sebacinaceae. Found throughout summer in abundance. It is white to yellowish, partially fused roundish to flattened blunt erect branches arise from central base; flesh tough/leathery. Odor not distinctive.

Believe it or not, mycologists place it with the jelly fungi, on the basis of the microscopic structure of its spore-producing basidia.

Common names: False Coral.

Mushroom Identification

1. Fruiting Body

   At first a whitish patch of fuzz, developing over a few weeks into a coral-like structure up to 10 cm high and 6 cm wide, with flattened branches arising from fused bases.

2. Branches

   Flattened; bald; dry; whitish to buff when fresh and young, becoming yellowish with age and often developing green shades (from algae) when very old; tips flattened, colored like the branches, becoming somewhat ragged with age.

3. Flesh

   Stringy and very tough; whitish.

4. Odor and Taste

   Odor not distinctive; taste slightly bitter.

5. Chemical Reactions

   Iron salts negative on branches.

6. Spore Print

   White.

7. Distribution

   Spring through late fall; widely distributed east of the Great Plains (also reported from New Mexico and Texas).

8. Habitat

   Mycorrhizal with oaks and possibly with other hardwoods; growing alone or gregariously on the ground, in soil or moss.

Synonyms

1. Tremellodendron pallidum

2. Tremellodendron schweinitzii

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: Robert(the 3 foragers) (the3foragers) (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 2 - Author: Alan Rockefeller (CC BY-SA 4.0)