Agrocybe dura
A grassland agaric listed as edible in historical and scientific catalogues for Hong Kong and China. Taxonomic concepts and practical food value vary; the listings do not establish safe identification or culinary practice.
Mushrooms
Auricularia tremellosa
Auricularia tremellosa is a wood ear fungus of the genus that supplies most dried wood ear sold in China; its own food record is thin, and the culinary practice described here comes from the closely related wood ear species.
What it is
Auricularia tremellosa belongs to the wood ear group, a set of gelatinous fungi that grow on dead wood and have a rubbery, soft-jelly texture when fresh. Wood ear fungi are dried for sale and rehydrated before use, and they keep their crunch and shape well in cooking.
The species name as used in the catalogue is a research label. The taxonomy of the wood ears is complicated, and the sources consulted do not confirm the current accepted name for this material. The page therefore describes the group only where the sources speak of the genus, and keeps species-specific claims to the catalogue record.
Culinary use in the wood ear group
Wood ears are common in soups and stir-fries in Chinese cooking. Their mild flavour and ability to take up the flavour of the liquid they are cooked in make them suited to broths and stews, and they are described as low in calories and relatively high in protein and fibre.
The commercial dried trade is grown almost exclusively in China. Cultivation of the group is recorded there as early as the Tang dynasty, 618 to 907 CE, and the estimated 2013 output was about 4.75 billion kilograms fresh weight. These figures describe the wood ear group, not Auricularia tremellosa on its own.
Health claims and their limits
Traditional beliefs link wood ears to breathing and circulation. The Missouri field guide reports that they are said to affect blood coagulation and lower blood cholesterol, and it notes that the evidence is limited to reports rather than established results. Those claims are not used on this page to support any health benefit.
Sources for this section
Safety and what is not known
No safety assessment for Auricularia tremellosa was found in the sources consulted, and the catalogue states that its food-use label is pending specialist review. Wood ears in the market are normally sold dried and cooked, and a reader should not treat any wild wood ear as safe without identification by a qualified source.
Open questions: the accepted name, the traditional names, any species-specific preparation and the composition of this particular species are not established by the sources reviewed. A check against a current taxonomic authority and a food-composition study of the species would close those gaps.
Places
China
Documented preparation · Country evidenceThis row describes the wood ear group grown in China. It does not establish a species-specific record for A. tremellosa.
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Sources
Missouri Department of ConservationIdentity · Culinary use · Health claims
Wood Ear (Tree Ear), Missouri Department of Conservation field guideHealth claims on blood coagulation and cholesterol are reported; the evidence is limited to reports, not established results.
Cited in: What it is; Culinary use in the wood ear group; Health claims and their limits; Safety and what is not known
WikipediaIdentity · History
Auricularia heimuer, Wikipedia (used as a lead only)Species of the Auricularia genus are cultivated for food in China, where most commercial dried trade is grown.
Cited in: What it is; Culinary use in the wood ear group
PubMed Central, as suppliedFood use
Food-use record supplied in the fungi catalogue (entry F-4a34b476e1fe)Catalogue entry for Auricularia tremellosa with a supplied food-use label pending specialist review.
Cited in: Safety and what is not known