The Elder jellies

I’m tramping through scrub on a path used by dog walkers and alienated teenagers. It’s only rubbish which catches my eyes and ears, with horribly loud crunching plastic bottles under the leaves and bright metallic cans discarded in the bushes. That is, until I spot this. It’s a Jelly Ear fungus.

Jelly Ear Fungus - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

It’s a fungus I spotted as a child and photographed for my nature notebooks:

It’s on a broken branch so I turn it over. It’s probably a piece of Elder, as Jelly Ear, Auricularia auricula-judae, does sometimes like a nice piece of Elder and that’s what’s growing here in profusion, next to the disused railway.

Underneath is a perfect wrinkled ear shape. It’s from here that it ejects several hundred thousand spores an hour.

Jelly Ear Fungus - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

I’d better turn it back over and leave it to reproduce in peace. I’ll do it quietly. The woods have ears.

More Fungi

Dead Man's Fingers - Xylaria polymorpha - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the) Dead Man’s Fingers It's cold on Dartmoor but it's always worth making it to Fingle Bridge. I'm looking forward to a pint in… read more
Red Belted Conk - Fomitopsis pinicola - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the) A Red Belted Conk There's the familiar orange-red band on this Red Belted Conk. Lovely, isn't it? Its scientific name is Fomitopsis pinicola. It… read more
Purple Curtain Crust - Chondrostereum purpureum - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the) Purple Curtain Crust I do love a good fungusy twig. Here's one with Purple Curtain Crust, Chondrostereum purpureum, rippling on it like a… read more
Date Waxcap - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the) One of Britain’s rarest fungi So you think it doesn't look like much? I think it looks fabulous. It's growing in the short grass around… read more
Apricot Club Fungus - Clavulinopsis luteoalba - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the) Yellow fingers grow from the short sward There are apricot-yellow fingers of fungus growing in the short sward at Emsworthy Mire. Fabulous, aren't they? They are the… read more
Deadly Webcap - Cortinarius rubellus - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the) Deadly Here's a fungus you should learn to identify if you're interested in foraging and eating wild fungi. It's the Deadly… read more
Orange Peel Fungus - Aleuria aurantia - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the) Orange Peel Fungus Orange Peel Fungus, Aleuria aurantia, is unmistakable. Just look at it: I've written about it before, and posted beautiful illustrations… read more
Mycena seynii - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the) Pine-cone Bonnet The Pine-cone Bonnet, Mycena seynii, is a beautiful fairy-bonnet cap which grows on pine cones. It's so beautiful I wish… read more
Spectacular Rustgill - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the) Spectacular Rustgill There's a strange group of fungi on this dead tree stump in the grounds of Exeter University. I'm out again… read more

Feel free to leave a Reply :)