Star Jelly

Description:

An alien-looking but edible cyanobacteria (relative of Nostoc flaggeliforme, or facai, a delicacy in the region of China where I lived for a while) that grows in dense soil, like the clay mixture where I found it. Wet, it looks like a mass of deflated balloons. Dried out, it becomes a thin dark crust that isn't dead but dormant.

Habitat:

Growing in our front yard, in a sandy clay soil type. Spotted after rain.

Notes:

Lots of fun nicknames for this one: star jelly, witch's butter, mare's eggs, soil algae (though not a true algae).