Stats

Lifespan

A few weeks

Size

Medium

Diet

Decomposer

Biome

Tropical rainforest

Range

Worldwide

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Spores

Defense

Camouflage

Status

Uncommon

About

A translucent white fungus that grows in frilly, brain-like lobes on dead hardwood branches, prized in Chinese cuisine and traditional medicine as "snow fungus." It swells into a soft, gelatinous mass after rain and shrivels to a papery crust in dry weather.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   spore

   A microscopic spore drifts on air or water and germinates where moisture and substrate meet.
2. 2.
   mycelium

   A thread-like mycelium spreads through the substrate, breaking it down into nutrients.
3. 3.
   fruiting body

   A mature fruiting body emerges to release the next generation of spores.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Fungi

Phylum

Basidiomycota

Class

Tremellomycetes

Order

Tremellales

Family

Tremellaceae

Genus

Tremella

Species

Tremella fuciformis