Jelly ear or Witches' butter

The fruiting body is ear-shaped, cup-shaped or wavy, 2–10 cm across, attached at the side to the wood. The inner (lower) surface is smooth, dark greyish-violet to brown; the outer (upper) surface is paler, with a fine felty down. Young, it's gelatinous and springy; dried, it turns hard and dark, and once wet again it regains its shape and elasticity.

Fresh fruit bodies are jelly-like and rubbery, button-shaped or pressed flat at first and attached at a narrow point, sometimes with a short stalk-like base, then top-shaped or almost cup-shaped, usually 1 to 5 cm across. They grow singly or in groups and sometimes partly fuse.

They're dark grey to brownish grey, later brownish black, almost black. The upper surface is uneven and dotted with small black pegs.

The spore-bearing layer is on the lower (concave) surface of the fruiting body, smooth or with barely visible wavy folds. Spore print white.

The spores form on the pegged upper surface. The underside is sterile and felty, covered in dense blackish hairs.

The spore print is white.

There's no stem, or only a very short lateral one, a small bump at the base of the cup. The body is attached directly to tree bark or wood.

There's no true stem: it's attached to the bark at a narrow point or by a short base.

The flesh is gelatinous, translucent brown and very elastic when moist: it bends rather than breaks. Dried, it shrinks 5–10 times in volume and becomes as hard as leather. Fresh, it keeps 2–3 days in the fridge.

The flesh is jelly-like, soft to fairly firm, watery olive-grey to greyish brown. In dry weather it shrinks to a thin black crust, then swells again after rain.

The smell is faint, neutral, with no distinct notes. The taste is bland — the mushroom takes on the flavour of seasonings and sauces.

The smell is indistinct.