''Auricularia cornea'', also known as cloud ear, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

fungus A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

in the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Auriculariales The Auriculariales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. Species within the order were formerly referred to the " heterobasidiomycetes" or "jelly fungi", since many have gelatinous basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that produce spores on ...

. It is commercially cultivated for food in China. ''Auricularia cornea'' is a popular ingredient in many Chinese dishes and is also used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Taxonomy

''Auricularia cornea'' was originally described from Hawaii (

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

) by German naturalist

Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (19 April 1795 – 27 June 1876) was a German Natural history, naturalist, zoologist, Botany, botanist, comparative anatomist, geologist, and microscopy, microscopist. He is considered to be one of the most famous an ...

in 1820. It was accepted as a distinct species by Bernard Lowy in his 1952 world monograph of ''

Auricularia ''Auricularia'' is a genus of fungi in the family (biology), family Auriculariaceae. Basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are typically gelatinous and ear-shaped, with a slightly downy to conspicuously hirsute upper surface and an under surface that is s ...

'' and subsequently confirmed as distinct by

molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, ...

research, based on

cladistic Cladistics ( ; from Ancient Greek 'branch') is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is ...

analysis of

DNA sequences A nucleic acid sequence is a succession of bases within the nucleotides forming alleles within a DNA (using GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule. This succession is denoted by a series of a set of five different letters that indicate the order of the ...

. Formerly, ''Auricularia cornea'' was often misidentified as ''A. polytricha''. That species was originally described from the

Eastern Ghats The Eastern Ghats is a mountain range that stretches along the East Coast of India, eastern coast of the Indian peninsula. Covering an area of , it traverses the states and union territories of India, states of Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Prade ...

in India by French mycologist

Camille Montagne Jean Pierre François Camille Montagne (15 February 1784 – 5 December 1866) was a French people, French military physician and botanist who specialized in the fields of bryology and mycology. Life Montague was born in the commune of Vaudoy i ...

in 1834, and (when used by American authors) is considered as a synonym of '' A. nigricans''. The misidentification remains widespread, at least in Japan.

Vernacular names

The species is one of several gelatinous fungi known as

wood ear Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin tha ...

, wood fungus, ear fungus, or tree ear fungus, alluding to their rubbery, ear-shaped fruitbodies. In

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

it is known as ''pepeiao'', which means "ear", while in

Chinese cooking Chinese cuisine comprises cuisines originating from China, as well as from Chinese people from other parts of the world. Because of the Chinese diaspora and the historical power of the country, Chinese cuisine has profoundly influenced many ...

it is often referred to as "black treasure". In New Zealand it is known as ''hakeke'' by

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

, while in the Philippines it is commonly referred to as ''taingang daga'' (rat's ears).

Description

Fruit bodies are solitary or clustered, ear-shaped, laterally attached to wood, sometimes by a very short stalk, elastic, gelatinous, pale brown to reddish brown, rarely white, up to wide and 2 mm thick. The upper surface is densely hairy and the lower surface is smooth. Microscopically, the hairs on the upper surface are thick-walled, 180–425 × 6–9

μm The micrometre (Commonwealth English as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American English), also commonly known by the non-SI term micron, is a unit of length in the International System ...

. The

basidia A basidium (: basidia) is a microscopic spore-producing structure found on the hymenophore of reproductive bodies of basidiomycete fungi. The presence of basidia is one of the main characteristic features of the group. These bodies are also ...

are cylindrical, hyaline, three-septate, 60–75 × 4–6 μm. The

spores In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plant ...

are hyaline, allantoid (sausage-shaped), and 14–16.5 × 4.5–6 μm.

Habitat and distribution

''Auricularia cornea'' grows on dead fallen or standing wood of broadleaf trees. The species is widely distributed in southern Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Pacific, and South America.

Uses

100 g of dry cloud ear fungus contains 70.1 g of dietary fibre. ''Auricularia cornea'' is usually sold in dried form, and needs to be soaked in water before use. While almost tasteless, it is prized for its slippery but slightly crunchy texture, and its potential nutritional benefits. The slight crunchiness persists despite most cooking processes. ''Auricularia cornea'' is coarser than '' A. heimuer'', and is more likely to be used in soups rather than stir fries.

traditionally cooked wood ear fungus by steaming in an earth oven and eating with

sow thistle Sow thistle most often refers to yellow flowered, thistle-like plants in the genus '' Sonchus.'' Sow thistle may also refer to: *''Cicerbita ''Cicerbita'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to Asia and Europe. T ...

and

potatoes The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

. From the 1870s to the 1950s, the fungus was collected and exported from New Zealand to China. The white, unpigmented form is now cultivated in China. According to Chinese medicine practitioners, eating dried and cooked wood ear can have health benefits for people with high blood pressure or cancer, and can prevent coronary heart disease and arteriosclerosis. This fungus is used in

Cantonese desserts Cantonese or Guangdong cuisine, also known as Yue cuisine ( zh, t=廣東菜 or zh, labels=no, t=粵菜), is the cuisine of Cantonese people, associated with the Guangdong, Guangdong province of China, particularly the provincial capital Guan ...

References

External links

Black Fungus

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10422716 Auriculariales Chinese edible mushrooms Edible fungi Fungi in cultivation Buddhist cuisine Fungi of Asia Fungi of Australia Fungi of New Zealand Fungi described in 1820 Fungi of Africa Fungi of South America Taxa named by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg Fungus species