Witches Butter
(Tremella Mesenterica)
Physical Characteristics
The witches butter looks more like a spoonful of orange marmalade splattered on a dead tree than what butter or fungus is supposed to look like. It can also look like yellow tissue paper when dry. The witches butter is a pretty wavy fungus. The witches butter is sometimes the color black. It is 1- 3 inches in width and up to about 3 inches in height.
Habitat
Witches butter lives in dead forests growing on dead trees like oaks. A pretty uncommon place to find witches butter growing is on an entrance to your house or somewhere on your property. Witches butter grows all year long.
Edibility
Witches butter is edible. It can be used as survival food if you get lost somewhere. It can also be used as an ingredient to a dish for added nutrition. However, sometimes witches butter can make you sick. Because witches butter is completely tasteless, I wouldn't take the risk eating witches butter unless I'm starving. Witches butter is rough and has a texture much chewier than butter. Instead of the texture of butter, it has a texture similar to a gummy bear's texture.
Medicinal and other uses
Witches butter is able to cure chilblains when put on skin. It also can be used as lotion. It is even able to protect from radiation. Sweden used to burn witches butter to protect them from evil spirits.
Interesting Facts
Witches butter got its name from European Legend. It said that if witches butter appeared on an entrance to your house, you have been cursed by a witch! The only way to get rid of the spell was to plunge something sharp into the fungus multiple times until all the inner juices leak out to kill the fungus. Stabbing it doesn't really kill the fungus. This is why people that believed this tale had to repeat this over and over again when the fungus grew back. Other people think that instead of being a fungus, witches butter might be alien spit! I don't think either tales are true.
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