Added on 31/12/2011Fungi

Oudemansiella mucida


Common Name(s): Porcelain Fungus, Beech Tuft, Poached Egg Fungus



This fungus produces white toadstools in clusters, normally high up on the stem. Each time I have found it, it has been growing on a bark wound or in a branch stub cavity. The bright white flesh attracts the eye from great distance and draws you towards it (see pictures below).The flesh is slimy, delicate and translucent in places (you can see the slime on the edge of the cap in a following picture). Other identification features are its distinctive folded ring and white spore print.

The fungus is supposedly edible once the slime has been removed - poached egg fungus! I personally don't find them tempting (unlike fresh young Chicken of the Woods).

Received email.


I thought you might be interested in a fact about Oudemansiella mucida, the Porcelain fungus. About 20 years ago scientists discovered that this fungus (along with many others as you know) produced a powerful anti-fungal agent which helps it to defend its timber from attack by rival species of fungus. This substance was later synthesised, and spawned (sorry, no pun intended) a multi-million pound branch of the agricultural fungicide business, the development of the strobilurin fungicides. These have been responsible for the most dramatic improvements in crop yields I have seen in my agricultural career ( an additional 1 tonne of wheat per hectare is common). Nearly every single wheat crop in the world is now treated with strobilurin fungicides, which are now already in their 4th or 5th generation. Not an arboricultural fact, I know, but it relates to the spalting we see in timber.

John Clohesy
Brooksby Melton College

Pictures By Chris Skellern








Pictures by David Sephton.


Fungi growing on dead Beech tree in Ashdown forest, Sussex.






Picture by John Hearne.


Fungus on fallen Beech branch, Burley, Hants.




Please Note: Many Fungi are toxic and individual reactions to them vary widely. Do not touch or eat fungi unless you have accurately identified them. The AIE can not accept any legal responsibility or liability for errors in identification or for individual reactions to the consumption of fungi.