A purple to wine-red, gelatinous cup fungus that forms clustered discs and brain-like asexual masses on well-rotted hardwood logs and stumps in late summer through winter. It is an ascomycete, not a true jelly fungus. It has been studied for antimicrobial compounds, its effect on heart-rot fungi in conifers, and volatile hydrocarbons ('mycodiesel').
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Saprobic on well-decayed wood of hardwoods, gregarious or clustered on stumps and logs; also on some living trees such as Norway spruce in Europe, where it colonizes heartwood. Late summer, fall and winter.
Distribution
Widely distributed in North America (Maine to Minnesota, south to Illinois and Georgia, and along the West Coast), Eurasia and Oceania, with records from Chile, China, Cuba, Iceland, Korea and Taiwan.
Characteristics
Asexual stage: lumpy and irregular, becoming club-, spoon- or tongue-shaped, gelatinous; lavender to purple or wine red; can form brain-like masses up to 20 cm across. Sexual stage (apothecia): 0.5-1.5 cm, spherical at first, flattening to shallow cups or discs, gelatinous; upper surface purple and bald, underside paler, sometimes with a poorly defined stem-like base. Odor: none. Spores: 13-21 x 3.5-5 µm (MushroomExpert) or about 12-16 x 3-5 µm (Wikipedia), fusiform to ellipsoid, smooth, often with a septum at maturity. Asci: 8-spored, apices blue in Melzer's reagent.
