Ascocoryne sarcoides
Scientific name: Ascocoryne sarcoides
(Jacquin:S.F.Gray) Groves & Wilson
Derivation of name: Sarc- means "flesh" or "fleshy" and
-oides means "resembling."
Synonyms:
Common name(s): Purple jelly drops.
Phylum: Ascomycota
Order: Helotiales
Family: Helotiaceae
Occurrence on wood substrate: Saprobic; on deciduous
stumps and fallen logs; September through October.
Dimensions: Individual cups 0.5-1 cm wide, forming
larger masses when coalesced.
Description: Purple lobes initally emerge out of wood,
swell into cup or disc-shaped ascocarps which typically
coalesce to form a violet to purple to reddish-purple
gelatinous, irregular mass.
Edibility: Unknown.
Comments: Ascocoryne cylichnium is very
similar in
appearence to A. sarcoides and the two
species can
only be differentiated with certainty by the
spores. Based
on spore measurements, the fungus in Figures 1 to 4
is
A. sarcoides. When
occurring as irregular masses, both
species
resemble
basidiomycete jelly fungi. Unlike the
jelly
fungi, Ascocoryne species produce ascospores, not
basidiospores.
More information at RogersMushrooms.com:
Figure 1. Purple jelly drops growing on a damp, rotting
log. Photo © Gary Emberger.
Figure 2. Enlargement of the purple jelly drops in Figure1.
Photo © Gary Emberger.
Figure 3. A further enlargement of some of the purple
jelly drops fruit bodies from Figure 2. Photo © Gary
Emberger.
Figure 4. The individual ascocarps of Ascocoryne
sarcoides are disc or saucer-shaped. It's only when the
fruit bodies grow close together in larger masses that they
assume an irregular jelly fungus-like shape. Because of this
variation, Ascocoryne
sarcoides will key out using either
the "cup and saucer" key or the "jelly" key in the initial
shape
key used at this website. Photo © John
Dawson.
Figure 5. Disc-shaped, purplish fruit bodies of Ascocoryne
sarcoides.
Photo © Dianna Smith.
Figure 6. Specimens of Ascocoryne sarcoides
pressing against each other as they grow. Photo ©
George Barron.
Figure 7. The ascocarps on the right are just emerging from
the bark. As they grow and coalesce, clusters of ascocarps
come to
resemble irregular, gelatinous masses such as the
specimen on the left. Photo © George Barron.