Thursday Seeds | Witch’s Butter

The list of plants that I want to grow. It’s changing and it’s really much the same.

Catmint and Saffron Crocus are on the list. They are already in the ground. These others? Tansy is good for repelling a lot of bugs, ticks and fleas being among them. 

There are other ones that I’d like to grow. 

On the inside, there are propagations that are going on. Spider plants and pothos are easy ones and as they grow, there is a need to either get more pots and plant or give these lovelies away to others. I call it Amish plants and usually it’s given to those that have birthdays. It’s a great gift because folks usually have an opinion about them. Some are new to keeping plants, others are ready to pull them out of their “capsule” and give back another kind of plant in return.

If they die, it happens. If they live, the new owners are usually proud and report back. It’s a fun way to share cleaner air. We all need it.

Witch’s Butter is not actually a plant. It’s a fungus with a cool name. It’s so stark yellow sitting  on the branches that I’m curious about it. Hence the subject of the post. Let’s learn!

What is this thing?

It’s butter. No, it’s a fungus. It is bright yellow on the tree trunk. Can you eat it? The answer is yes. It’s one of the few fungus that you can eat raw. The folklore of it is a different matter so better make sure you understand before you call this your next snack.

It’s also called yellow brain and golden jelly fungus. You can see the picture and why it would get this name. Now what about that pesky curse? A witch in your midst that you made angry?

Tremella mesenterica is the latin name for this fungus in case you want to read more than the wiki on it.

It’s primarily found on old tree stumps and dead wood of trees. The claim from eating this fungus is that the there is no taste and that it either gives no harm or it helps the immune system in ways not fully explored by science. Possible cancer prevention? The science is sketchy on this.

That which can help and has no science learned behind how, makes it in the list of witch’s folklore. It helped or it hurt are the story turns in the lore. What science does know about fungus is that it does have a network and communication among themselves. This fungus too? Why not?

And if the fungus has a network, does it talk to the root networks of the trees? And what would it say in the trunk full of dead wood? 

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”

That’s what my imagination wants it to say. And further: “We are a community. We will help you clean up and break down.”

And if it’s breaking down things, could it breakdown bad things in a human? Say cancer? Why not?