saccharina by mycologists Johannes Baptista von Albertini and Lewis David de Schweinitz and raised to species level in Exidia by Elias Magnus Fries in 1822.

[4] The basidiocarps of E. saccharina are orange-brown, gelatinous, button-shaped at first but sometimes coalescing to form effused, irregular, often ridged masses up to 10 cm across.

[3] Fruit bodies of Exidia subsaccharina (known from France and England) also occur on conifers and are not distinguishable in the field, but have larger basidia and spores (12.5 to 17.5 by 4 to 5.5 μm).

[3] Exidia saccharina is most common in Scandinavia, but can also be found elsewhere in Europe, in northern parts of Asia,[3] and in North America.

[5] Exidia saccharina grows only on dead conifers, including species of Abies, Larix, Picea, and most commonly Pinus.