Jelly Babies

Leotia lubrica – Edible

Deciduous, coniferous and mixed forests, especially damp, grassy, mossy ones. Summer, autumn.

Fruiting bodies tiny. Cap 1-2 cm across, irregularly lobed-convex, yellowish, greenish-yellow, slimy, the underside dry. Stem 2—6x0.2—0.5 cm, cylindrical, granular, rough; the inside of an old stem is gelatinous, the colour of the cap, sometimes orange, golden yellow. Flesh thin, gelatinous, yellowish-whitish, with a mouldy smell, not bitter. Characteristic features: spores with several transverse septa. Grows singly or in small groups in damp, grassy forests; likes oak, hornbeam and spruce communities. Edible, but of low value.