Tremella mesenterica

}} The species was originally described in 1769 from Sweden by Anders Jahan Retzius. It was later (1822) sanctioned by Elias Magnus Fries in the second volume of his Systema Mycologicum. The species formerly recognized as Tremella lutescens is now seen as a form of T. mesenterica with washed-out colors and considered a synonym. Based on molecular analysis of the sequences of the D1/D2 regions of the large subunit ribosomal RNA gene and the internal transcribed spacer regions of rRNA, T. mesenterica is most closely related to T. coalescens, T. tropica, and T. brasiliensis. This analysis included 20 of the estimated 120 Tremella species. Etymology The specific epithet is a Latin adjective formed from the Ancient Greek word (mesentérion), "middle intestine", from (meso-, "middle, center") and (énteron, "intestine"), referring to its shape. ==Description==

The fruit body has an irregular shape, and usually breaks through the bark of dead branches. It is up to broad and high, rounded to variously lobed or brain-like in appearance. The fruit body is gelatin-like but tough when wet, and hard when dry. The surface is usually smooth, the lobes translucent, deep yellow or bright yellow-orange, fading to pale yellow, rarely unpigmented and white or colorless. The fruit bodies dry to a dark reddish or orange. The spores, viewed in mass, are whitish or pale yellow. ==Habitat and distribution==

Tremella mesenterica has a cosmopolitan distribution, having been recorded from North, Central, and South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Fruit bodies are formed during wet periods throughout the year. In British Columbia, Canada, it is sometimes found on maple, poplar, or pine, but is most abundant on red alder. It prefers to grow in habitats ranging from mesic to wet. The fungus grows parasitically on the mycelium of wood-rotting corticioid fungi in the genus Peniophora. Occasionally, T. mesenterica and its host fungus are found fruiting together. ==Uses==

Although some have categorized the fungus as inedible or merely "non-poisonous", ==References==