Yellow Stagshorn vs Yellow Brain
Calocera viscosa and Tremella mesenterica are confused for one another often enough to be worth putting next to each other.
Gelatinous orange antlers on conifer wood. Harmless but tasteless and rubbery.
Golden jelly blobs on dead branches. Harmless and technically edible, but flavourless — most guides list it as not worthwhile.
Side by side
| Calocera viscosa | Tremella mesenterica | |
|---|---|---|
| In this game | Inedible / unclear | Inedible / unclear |
| Habitat | Buried conifer wood and rotting stumps, standing up out of the moss. | Dead broadleaf branches, parasitic on the crust fungi already living in them. |
| Season | Autumn to early winter. | Autumn to spring, swelling after rain. |
| Spore print | Pale yellow. | White. |
The recorded spore prints differ: pale yellow for Calocera viscosa, white for Tremella mesenterica. That is one documented difference, not a test you can pass.
This comparison cannot make a mushroom safe to eat. It sets out the few characteristics this game records, in general terms, for two species that vary by region, age and growing conditions. Real specimens overlap in ways no table and no photograph can separate, and the deadly one here is deadly in a single meal. Ask a qualified local expert, every time.
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Calocera viscosa is also confused with Beautiful Clavaria.
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