Exidia saccharina is a species of fungus in the family Auriculariaceae. Basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are gelatinous, reddish brown, button-shaped at first then often coalescing and becoming irregularly effused. In the UK, it has the recommended English name of pine jelly.[1] It grows on dead branches of conifers and is known from Europe, North America, and northern Asia.
The basidiocarps of E. saccharina are orange-brown, gelatinous, button-shaped at first but sometimes coalescing to form effused, irregular, often ridged masses up to 10 cm across.[3] They become leathery, dark, and shriveled when dry.[5]
Microscopic characters
The translucent hyphae are 0.5–2.5 μm in diameter, monomitic, branched, thin-walled, and form clamp connections. Hyphae frequently form anastomoses.[5]Basidia are typically 13 to 15.5 μm long, elliptical, and consist of four longitudinally septate cells. Basidiospores are allantoid (sausage shaped), 10 to 14 by 3 to 4.5 μm, with thin, smooth walls.[3]
Similar species
Fruit bodies of Exidia subsaccharina (known from France and England) also occur on conifers and are not distinguishable in the field, but have larger basidia and spores (12.5 to 17.5 by 4 to 5.5 μm).[3]
Distribution and habitat
Exidia saccharina is most common in Scandinavia, but can also be found elsewhere in Europe, in northern parts of Asia,[3] and in North America.[5]
^Wojewoda, W. (1965). Grzyby (Mycota) (in Polish) (VIII ed.). Poland: Polska Akademia Nauk, Instytut Botaniki. pp. 137–163.
^Govorova, O.K. (1998). "The genus Exidia (heterobasidiomycetes) from the Russian far east". Mikologiya i Fitopatologiya. 32 (2): 11–13 – via Researchgate.
^Kirschner, R. (2010). "The synnematous anamorph of Exidia saccharina (Auriculariales, Basidiomycota): morphology, conidiogenesis and association with bark beetles". Polish Botanical Journal. 55 (2): 335–342 – via Researchgate.
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