Species details
Purple jelly drops
Ascocoryne cylichnium
Inedible
Photo: Bjorn Sothmann · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photo source · License
Description
A small pink-violet jelly fungus on decaying wood that is macroscopically almost indistinguishable from Ascocoryne sarcoides.
Identification features
Fruitbodies about 5–10 mm wide, rounded, cup- or cushion-shaped, pink to violet-pink and gelatinous.
Identification checklist
A photograph alone is insufficient to reliably separate it from Ascocoryne sarcoides. Microscopy, especially spore size, is essential.
How to separate similar species
Gobe.si explicitly states that the species cannot be separated macroscopically from A. sarcoides; FungiTrail should show low confidence or both possibilities.
Habitat
Grows on decaying branches, trunks and stumps, especially beech, in autumn and winter.
Fruiting period
September, October, November, December, January, February
Similar species
- Purple jellydisc (Ascocoryne sarcoides)
- Ascocoryne species