Leonard Weber

February 1, 2024

I should know better after all these years, but every winter I am a little surprised to find mushrooms thriving in January and February here in Detroit.

Recently, my attention has been on a species known as Amber Jelly (also known as Jelly Roll, Amber Jelly Fungus, and Brown Witch’s Butter).

Amber Jelly is a small mushroom that is found, frequently in clusters, on dead or dying limbs and twigs, especially of oak trees. Following snow or ice events, one can often find it by looking closely at newly fallen dead branches.

It is a small mushroom. The individual caps are usually less than inch across. It is a decomposer, contributing to the rotting of the dead wood.

The “amber” part of the name seems a little misleading. It is more brown or purplish. Perhaps it would look different seen with sunshine behind it, but all of my photos are from cloudy days.

The “jelly” part of the name rings more true. It looks and feels somewhat like jelly, soft and flexible, but not squishy.

It is often possible to spot Amber Jelly on some of the small branches that are still attached on oak trees, limbs that have recently died but have not yet fallen.

One of the other attractions found on trees and tree limbs at this time of the year is lichen. The combination of lichen and Amber Jelly can be very attractive.

When all the world seems dark and gray and we might be getting eager for winter to end, it can be very satisfying to stop and examine small limbs on the ground under oak trees.

Nature’s wonders are not all dormant!