The Tremellaceae family is in the Tremellales order. Several common jelly fungi belong in this family. Some appear similar to jelly fungi in the Dacrymycetales order, but they are quite different in many important respects. The yellow ‘witches butter known as Tremella mesenterica, for example grows on dead hardwoods, while its lookalike, Dacrymyces chrysospermus grows from dead conifer wood. Also, the conifer jelly has white mycelium at its base. The broad-leaved associate, Tremella mesenterica, parasitizes the mycelia of Peniophora rufa. Tremella aurantia is a parasite of the mycelium of the wood-decaying fungus Stereum hirsutum.
Click on each photo to see diagnostic details and read descriptions of fungi included in this family.
This family contains genera of jelly-like fungi that are rubbery, shrink in dry weather, and rehydrate when it rains. The above photos feature jelly fungi genera and species that are found on other mushrooms, wood and from the ground. These are all parasitic of other fungi, including the hyphae of stereums in decaying wood. Some are edible.