Auricularia lateralis

Overview

Auricularia lateralis is a gelatinous wood-ear fungus. It belongs to the Auricularia delicata complex, a group of species that look much alike and were separated mainly by DNA sequence data. It was described as new in 2021, so it is one of the more recently named edible fungi in the genus.

Its food status rests on one national catalogue. A 2026 Chinese catalogue of edible and medicinal fungi lists it as edible. That listing confirms a reported property, not a documented tradition of eating it, a market, or a recipe.

Taxonomy and identity

The species was described by Wu and colleagues in 2021 from specimens gathered on rotten broadleaved wood in Daxueshan Nature Reserve, Yongde County, Yunnan. Multi-locus phylogenetic analysis placed it in a lineage separate from A. delicata and A. sinodelicata. The authors report that it is morphologically similar to the African A. pilosa but phylogenetically distant from it.

The fruit bodies are described as gelatinous, reddish-brown to fawn, ear-shaped or disc-shaped, solitary or clustered, and up to about 5 cm across. The upper surface is conspicuously hairy and the lower surface is porose-reticulate. The authors stress that macroscopic characters vary within the group, so appearance alone does not settle identity. The name 'wide-haired wood ear' is a literal rendering of the Chinese catalogue name and is not an established English common name.

Habitat and season

The type and paratype specimens grew on dead angiosperm wood, which is saprotrophic growth. No cultivation, yield, substrate or harvest calendar is documented. The Yunnan collections are dated August 2014 and August 2015. Those dates describe the specimens only and do not show when the fungus fruits or how long the season lasts.

Food use and preparation

The sources do not describe a dish, a preparation method, a storage practice or a fermentation use for Auricularia lateralis. The genus-wide culinary history of other wood ears must not be transferred to this species. Its edible status is a catalogue entry for China.

Identification and safety

No species-specific toxicological study or validated safe preparation process was found. Wood ears in the A. delicata complex are hard to separate by appearance, and a checklist entry does not make a wild specimen safe to identify or eat. A generated picture, a local name, or resemblance to cultivated wood ear does not establish either identity or safety. Any foraging decision should rest on expert identification and local guidance.