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Dacryopinax spathularia
A row of short (2 cm) fungi that were bright yellow. The cap wasn't the normal "mushroom" cap, but they were more like a stalk with a flattened end on top. I have been unable to find anything like them, so I hope someone can help with an ID
These were found on a large log (foto #4) in a large clearing that is to be a native garden in the Amazon rainforest of SE Ecuador very near the Peruvian border (300 masl). They were in an area protected from the sun except for late afternoon.
An interesting row of fungi with just a few little ones out of line. While I saw multiples of most of the fungi in that garden, these were the only ones of this type.
Spotted on Mar 24, 2019
Submitted on Apr 10, 2019
9 Comments
Thanks Machi. I appreciate that.
I am no expert on fungi in your area, but I know for sure this is not Tremella mesenterica. Tremella mesenterica does not have stalks, but rather it looks like a blob with folds.
Following up on your correction of my reading ability :-) I do find Dacryopinax spathularia in the pamphlet of Ecuadorian mushrooms in the link I've added to the Reference Box. With that to confirm your suggestion, I'm going to go ahead with the ID. Thanks so much Mauna. It's a little frustrating to have so many neat fungi down here and unable to positively identify the majority because there is little published because of the remoteness. Living in a remote area definitely has its advantages, but a few drawbacks. Just a few though :-)
Oh, if you click the link, you’ll see that I suggested Dacryopinax, which is a distinct genus!
Thanks Mauna. With both you and Machi suggesting Dacrymyces, that is probably correct, however without a positive ID I may have to leave it unidentified. I will edit my posting to reflect the possibility of Dacrymyces .
When I saw your spotting, I immediately thought of Spathularia sp., but, like the fungus Machi suggested, it tends to occur in temperate regions. However, there’s another possible contender here whose distribution includes the tropics and shape seems a little closer than Tremella’s: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacryopi...
Just another direction to investigate!
Mauna & Machi: I found "Dacrymyces palmatus (NE USA) can be confused with Tremella mesenterica when you do not pay attention to the substrate on which it is fruiting."
Looking up Tremella mesenterica https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tremella_m... I see it is found in South America and looks like a match. What do you think?
Thanks Machi. I came across Orange Jelly but decided against it as they looked like a mass of blobs instead of indivitual stalks. After your suggestion I looked and did find some very like min, however according to iNaturalist, Dacrymyces chrysospermus isn't found in South America. I think you must be very close in your ID though. I will continue to dig along those lines. Thanks again.
Maybe Dacrymyces chrysospermus? Or another member of the genus? Not too sure.