Auricularia cornea
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Auricularia cornea, also known as cloud ear, is a species of fungus in the order Auriculariales. 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) by German naturalist Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg in 1820. It was accepted as a distinct species by Bernard Lowy in his 1952 world monograph of Auricularia<ref name="Lowy"/> and subsequently confirmed as distinct by molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences.<ref name="Looney2013"/>
Formerly, Auricularia cornea was often misidentified as A. polytricha.<ref name="wu2021" /> That species was originally described from the Eastern Ghats in India by French mycologist Camille Montagne in 1834, and (when used by American authors) is considered as a synonym of A. nigricans.<ref name="Looney2013"/> The misidentification remains widespread, at least in Japan.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Vernacular names
The species is one of several gelatinous fungi known as wood ear, wood fungus, ear fungus, or tree ear fungus, alluding to their rubbery, ear-shaped fruitbodies.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>
In Hawaii it is known as pepeiao, which means "ear",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> while in Chinese cooking it is often referred to as "black treasure".<ref name="cndaily"/> In New Zealand it is known as hakeke by Māori,<ref name="Brightwell"/><ref name=":0" /> while in the Philippines it is commonly referred to as taingang daga (rat's ears).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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 Template:Convert 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 basidia are cylindrical, hyaline, three-septate, 60–75 × 4–6 μm. The spores are hyaline, allantoid (sausage-shaped), and 14–16.5 × 4.5–6 μm.<ref name="wu2021"/>
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.<ref name="Looney2013"/><ref name="wu2021"/>
Uses
100 g of dry cloud ear fungus contains 70.1 g of dietary fibre.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The slight crunchiness persists despite most cooking processes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Auricularia cornea is coarser than A. heimuer, and is more likely to be used in soups rather than stir fries.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Māori traditionally cooked wood ear fungus by steaming in an earth oven and eating with sow thistle and potatoes.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> From the 1870s to the 1950s, the fungus was collected and exported from New Zealand to China.<ref name="Brightwell" /><ref name=":0" /> The white, unpigmented form is now cultivated in China.<ref name="wu2021" /><ref name="Bandara2020" />
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.<ref name="cndaily" />
This fungus is used in Cantonese desserts.