Belly-shaped Hard Grass vs Common Jelly Spot

Aegilops ventricosa compared with Dacrymyces stillatus

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Belly-shaped Hard Grass	Common Jelly Spot
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)
Class	Liliopsida (Monocots)	Dacrymycetes (Dacrymycetes)
Order	Poales (Grasses)	Dacrymycetales (Dacrymycetales)
Family	Poaceae (Grass Family)	Dacrymycetaceae
Genus	Aegilops	Dacrymyces
Species	Aegilops ventricosa	Dacrymyces stillatus

Conservation Status

Belly-shaped Hard Grass

LC — Least Concern

Common Jelly Spot

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Belly-shaped Hard Grass	Common Jelly Spot
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Belly-shaped Hard Grass

Habitat

Typically found in grasslands, wetlands, forests, and cultivated landscapes.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, France, Netherlands, and United Kingdom.

Common Jelly Spot

Habitat

Native to Europe and North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Found across Europe (5 countries) and North America (United States).

Belly-shaped Hard Grass

The Belly-shaped Hard Grass (Aegilops ventricosa) is a species in the genus Aegilops. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in grasslands, wetlands, forests, and cultivated landscapes.

Common Jelly Spot

<em>Dacrymyces stillatus</em>, commonly known as the common jelly spot, is a saprotrophic fungus in the family Dacrymycetaceae. It is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, with records from five European countries and North America. The species typically grows on damp, dead, or decaying wood, particularly coniferous timber, forming small, gelatinous, orange-yellow cushions or pustules on the substrate surface. As a saprotrophic wood-decay fungus, it contributes to nutrient cycling and the decomposition of woody material in temperate forest ecosystems. The bright gelatinous fruiting bodies make it a conspicuous species when encountered on wet wood in cool, humid conditions. Diet information for this species is not available in current records. Biological traits of this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature.