Exidia nucleata

Sporocarp
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
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.

Habitat
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.

Edibility
Unknown, but like most jelly fungi probably edible.

Comments
Exidia nucleata 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 Exidia nucleata, 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.