5 September 2006 Buckinghamshire. Photograph copyright Leif Goodwin. Synonymns Oudemansiella mucida Common Name Porcelain fungus, poached egg fungus, slimy beech tuft Cap Convex, expanding with age, often with a broad central bump, smooth or radially wrinkled, translucent, slimy, white, sometimes wth a brown tinge at the centre, to about 8 cm across Gills Emarginate, broad, distant, white Stem Cylindrical, often curved, base bulbous, often lined above the ring, whitish above the ring, whitish to brownish below, ring white and fleshy Flesh White Smell Indistinct Taste Indistinct Season Late summer to autumn Distribution Common Habitat Singly and in clusters on living and dead wood from deciduous trees, usually Beech, rarely from other species Spore Print White Microscopic Features Spores globose to subglobose, smooth, thick walled (14-18) x (11-16) µm2 Edibility Edible Notes The fungus produces a powerful fungicide which deters competing fungi from estabishing themselves on wood colonised by M. mucida. This fungicide formed the basis of early fungicides used in the agricultural sector. |