[3] It is a common, wood-rotting species in Europe, typically growing on dead attached branches of oak.

The gelatinous basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are up to 3 cm (1.2 in) wide, shiny, black and blister-like, and grow singly or in clusters.

[5] Fries, however, modified Bulliard's species concept to include a second, effused, coalescing species—the name Exidia glandulosa serving for both.

The undersurface is smooth and matt at first, but develops a dense covering of small, gelatinous spines.

The two are similar, but E. nigricans produces button-shaped fruit bodies in clusters that quickly become deformed and coalesce, forming an effused, lobed mass that can be 10 cm (3.9 in) or more across.

[8] The ascomycete Bulgaria inquinans forms similar, rubbery-gelatinous, blackish fruit bodies on oak.

[11] Exidia glandulosa is a wood-rotting species, typically found on dead attached branches of broadleaf trees, especially oak, occasionally hazel or beech.