Tremella mesenterica?

[Lancashire Lad]

Found yesterday, am I right in thinking that this bright orange fruitbody is probably Tremella mesenterica?



My previous T.mesenterica finds have been the normal yellow/golden colour, but I understand that it can become orange in colour when the fruitbody is old/dry. (Although this example definitely wasn't dry).

Found on what was almost certainly a small fallen Oak branch.
No obvious signs of the Peniphora host species that Tremella's parasitise.
There were two similarly sized fruitbodies, each being approx. 25mm in width, and located approx. 75mm apart, on the branch.

Confirmation/other, much appreciated.

Regards,
Mike.

[diggleken]

Hi Mike,
this link might help:-
Distorted orange-peel, Melastiza cornubiensis ?
It appears you are right with T mesenterica, but the inference is that can start orangey in some cases then gets washed out , as we normally see.
New to me that colour though!
Cheers
Ken

[fairplay]

I believe we have 3 species of Tremella to choose from:

T.foliacea - wrong colour.
T.messenterica - grows on Peniophora species.
T.aurantia - grows on Stereum hirsutum.

We need to know which species it was parasitising.

Neil.

[mollisia]

Hello,

Tremella mesenterica adn aurantiaca have different spore messures also, so this could be a help too.

best regards,
Andreas

[cybershot]

Originally Posted by fairplay

I believe we have 3 species of Tremella to choose from:

T.foliacea - wrong colour.
T.messenterica - grows on Peniophora species.
T.aurantia - grows on Stereum hirsutum.

We need to know which species it was parasitising.

Neil.

Often the identity of the host species is difficult to determine:

The Association of British Fungus Groups • View topic - Various jellies for id please.

Specimen of T. mesenterica found yesterday with evidence of the host species stiil present:

[Fungalpunk]

An old oak log near where I live is absolutely covered with Stereum hirsutum and numerous Tremella species are scattered all over it. A lovely sight but the question is will this be almost certainly aurantia or could there be some Peniophora tucked inside that the Tremella is living upon. Do the species crossover as well on hosts as well - i.e. Can mesenterica be found on Stereum hirsutum?

By the way trying to examine these under the scope is a bloody menace.

Fungalpunk Dave

[fairplay]

I don't know where/when the research was done, or who by, but it must have been pretty comprehensive as it seems to be generally accepted now.

Trouble is, there will always be exceptions as in the case of the Flat Footed Fly causing galls on Ganoderma applanatum.
For years it has always been 'known' that where these galls occur the fungus would be G.applanatum. We now know that this is not always the case.

Evolution ?

Neil.

[Michael Jordan]

Originally Posted by fairplay

I don't know where/when the research was done, or who by, but it must have been pretty comprehensive as it seems to be generally accepted now. Neil.

The original research was published in the USA, I think in the early 1990s, and in 1995 Peter Roberts, then working for RBG Kew, published a British paper describing the distinctions between T. mesenterica and T. aurantia. However, very few field mycologists have really taken the distinctions into account until the last two or three years. This, not least, has been because the identity of host fungus is often extremely difficult to detect by the time the Tremella has reached the stage of fruiting. Hence the Forayer article referred to by David.

Michael Jordan

[fairplay]

Cheers Michael,

Have a good Xmas by the way.

Neil.

[Lancashire Lad]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

No obvious signs of either Peniophora or Stereum on the branch containing these fruitbodies.

Looks like this will just have to go down as Tremella sp.

Regards,
Mike.