A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Exidia sp.
Probably Exidia glandulosa - the visible parts look like drops of tar randomly sprayed on the bark of this tree. Upon closer inspection I realised they were black gelatinous lumps, of irregular or vaguely spherical shape, protruding through the bark and moss. These lumps measure anywhere between 2 to 5 cm across and tend to aggregate into larger gelatinous form. Underneath the dead bark (pics 1 to 3) I've found what looked like younger lumps, more roundish and translucent and grey. There were also some whitish mycelium there.
Seen on and under the bark of a broadleaved tree in a mixed forest (oak, beech and fir trees), on hills in a valley between Jura mountains and Geneva lake. The tree itself (probably a beech) looked dying, as the bark was falling down in large patches.
Difficult to differentiate the two members of Exidia genus: E. glandulosa is easy to confuse with E. nigricans; which is the reason I preferred to leave it at genus level.
Spotted on Jan 31, 2021
Submitted on Feb 3, 2021
1 Comment
really cool!