the.com/witch butter
A jelly fungus so unkillable it returns from the dead after drying to a crisp.
means Witch butter is a gelatinous jelly fungus (genus Tremella, especially the yellow Tremella mesenterica) that grows in brain-like blobs on dead wood and can rehydrate back to life after drying out.
from A compound of plain English "witch" and "butter" — the fungus is soft, slick, and yellowish like a smear of butter, while the "witch" half carries old folk superstition: in European country lore, finding the wobbly stuff on your gatepost or fence was a sign a witch had cursed your home, and the remedy was to pierce it with pins or burn it to drive the spell away. The naming impulse is the same one behind "witch's butter" appearing as a country name for several slimy or jelly-like growths.
- true name
- Tremella mesenterica, a parasite on other fungi
- folklore
- Believed cast by witches onto cursed homes' gates
- resurrection
- Revives fully after rehydrating from desiccated husk
- edibility
- Technically edible but tastes like flavorless gelatin
- secret prey
- Actually hunts the fungus inside the wood, not the wood
tremella mesenterica — jelly fungus found on dead wood worldwide, orange-yellow gelatinous fruiting body
dacrymyces chrysospermus — similar orange jelly fungus species, common on hardwood logs in north america and europe