About this fungus
Brown Wood Ear is a fungus in the Auriculariaceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
A thin, flexible, ear-like or irregularly lobed jelly fungus, reddish-brown when moist and darker when dry.
What to check
Confirm growth from dead wood, a smooth to wrinkled fertile underside and a finely hairy upper surface. A cross-section and spore measurements are important for species-level work.
Variation
Fruit bodies expand and become translucent after rain, then shrink, harden and darken as they dry.
Lookalikes
Several Auricularia species look alike in the field. Older records from Asia have been reassigned to other species after microscopic and DNA study.
Habitat and range
Modern phylogenetic work places the verified species in tropical and subtropical America, on decaying wood in forest and other wooded habitats.
Food safety
Edibility is uncertain or disputed.
Photographs
Photo: Ben Gruhot · CC BY 4.0