What is Star Jelly?

If you go down in to the woods today, you’ll likely find a fine flurry of fabulous fungi. From Fly Algaric (Amanita muscaria) – that toxic, hallucinogenic toadstool that peppers many a fairytale – to fairy rings of Shaggy Parasols (Chlorophyllum rhacodes, C. olivieri and C. brunneum) it feels like a real bumper year for fungi.

But not everything that looks and feels like fungi is quite as it seems as I found out to both my surprise and delight last weekend.

Wandering through the woods around Tisbury in Autumn is a joy; the mossy woodland carpet is punctured by the tiny antlers of Yellow Stagshorn (Calocera viscosa) and Hart’s-tongue Ferns (Asplenium scolopendrium) blanket the banks of old droveways that now act as the only paths. If you’re to forest bathe anywhere in Wiltshire you’d struggle to find a finer spot.

They also harbour some really rather rare and strange treasures. Perched on a fallen ancient tree I spotted a large white blob of gelatinous slime mould. To the touch it had the firmness of crème brulee but it glided like a puck on ice.

Fungi enthusiast I am but sadly no expert. So I put it to the pros who excitedly informed me I had stumbled across Star Jelly, no fungi but surely one of nature’s weirdest offerings.

So what is this mucilaginous muck Star Jelly? A quick google reveals it is a hotly debated subject with some frankly pretty crackpot theories: is it the fallout from meteor showers? Or residues left behind by scientists attempting to control the weather?

The best intelligence, however, suggests it’s what happens when a bird eats an amphibian and it REALLY doesn’t agree with it.

According to Brian Douglas of the Lost and Found Fungi Project Star Jelly is often regurgitated frog spawn jelly or reproductive organs, but sometimes other things. Birds presumably eat frogs, the mucus jelly expands in the birds stomach in contact with water, and the bird vomits it up. Sometimes it can be found full of tadpoles.

So what of the specimen that I found? Armed with fresh knowledge, I paid it another visit, and, yes, it did indeed seem to contain tadpoles. There are lots of owls in these woods and toads have been on the move of late. So my conclusion? It’s highly likely to be the spawn of an unhappy coming together between an owl and a toad.

Have you seen anything unusual down the woods this Hallowe'en? If so, let us know on Twitter (we're @Love_plants) or by tagging us on Instagram (we're @plantlife.loveplants).

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