Black Witch's Butter: Exidia glandulosa

Sporocarp
Fruiting body 1-2 cm broad, irregularly convoluted to brain-like, often aggregated into masses up to 10-20 cm long and 3-5 cm broad; upper surface fertile, smooth to warted, olive-black to black; flesh gelatinous, soft, thin, in dry weather forming a black crust on the substrate; odor and taste mild.

Spores
Spores 10-15 x 4-5 µm, sausage-shaped, smooth, nonamyloid; spores whitish in deposit; basidia longitudinally septate.

Habitat
Solitary or in rows on hardwood branches; occasionally on branches of Monterey pine (Pinus radiata); fruiting from after the fall rains to late winter.

Edibility
Probably edible, but insignificant.

Comments
Exidia glandulosa is common in the San Francisco Bay Area and other parts of California, but frequently overlooked because of its dark color. Fruitings can be solitary but more typically are in long rows or elongated masses.