Jelly ear

Identity and name

Auricularia auricula-judae is known as jelly ear. Its name was originally applied from a European description, and the name now refers only to the European species. Molecular work showed that the East Asian fungus sold under this name is a different species, A. heimuer (black wood ear).

Older worldwide records often used this name broadly, so a historical record of "jelly ear" in Asia may refer to another species. The catalogue lists the search alias Hirneola auricula-judae.

Habitat and ecology

Jelly ear is a wood-decomposing fungus. Sources report that it grows on deciduous wood, including elder (Sambucus nigra), and that it causes a white rot. It is widespread across Europe and is not recorded as occurring elsewhere in the sources reviewed.

Seasonal accounts differ. One source describes it as mainly seen in winter and spring, another as present throughout the year and most common in late summer and autumn. The difference is not resolved here.

Food use

The catalogue records jelly ear as a gelatinous fungus used in cooked dishes and dried products, with regional cultivation. Descriptions give it as edible but not highly regarded in culinary terms, and advise that it be cooked thoroughly.

The sources do not give a standard recipe or a validated preservation method for dried jelly ear, so none is set out here.

Safety and limits

Identification and safety: a name, a photograph or one regional guide does not confirm that a wild specimen is this species. This page is not a collection key. Edibility statements refer to the named species as understood by each source, not any particular specimen. Cook thoroughly is the only handling advice the sources give. The catalogue classes the record as food, market or specialist evidence and does not treat any preservation process as validated for this species.