According to David Arora (1986), Leotia viscosa has acquired the common name of "Chicken Lips." He suggests that this name was provided by the same person who named Tricholoma flavovirens "Man on Horseback"; neither mushroom looks anything like the image conjured up by the "common name." It may well be the same naturalist who drew the picture of the deer with its antlers pointed in the wrong direction (as though streamlined antlers might help the deer fly), used on highway warning signs across the country.

I have no information on the edibility of Leotia viscosa, though I suspect it is harmless. It is, however, entirely unappetizing, and someone, somewhere, decided to call it "Chicken Lips." I do not recommend trying it.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic; growing gregariously under hardwoods or conifers (and occasionally found on well-rotted wood); summer and fall; widely distributed in North America.

Cap: .5-3 cm; variable in shape but more or less convex; convoluted; with a smooth or slightly wrinkled surface; sticky or slimy when fresh, but sometimes drying out; the margin inrolled; olive green to green. Underside smooth and pale.

Stem: 2-9 cm long; up to 1 cm wide; smooth; more or less equal; sticky or slimy when fresh; white, yellowish, or orangish; sometimes with tiny green dots; hollow or filled with jelly.

Flesh: Gelatinous when fresh.