Jelly Tree Ear

Auricularia americana forms thin, brown, rubbery-gelatinous fruit bodies that are ear-shaped and 2.5–10 centimetres (1–4 inches) across and about 3 millimetres (1⁄8 in) thick. The fruitbodies occur singly or in clusters. The upper surface is finely pilose. The spore-bearing underside is smooth. The spore print is white.

Microscopic characters. The microscopic characters are typical of the genus Auricularia. The basidia are tubular, laterally septate, 55–70 × 4–5 μm. The spores are allantoid (sausage-shaped), 14–16.5 × 4.5–5.5 μm.

Similar species. In North America, Auricularia angiospermarum is almost identical but grows on the wood of broadleaf trees. No other North American Auricularia species grows on conifer wood. In China and Tibet, however, a second species, A. tibetica, also occurs on conifers. It can be distinguished microscopically by its longer basidia and larger basidiospores. Additionally, A. nigricans, Exidia crenata, and Phylloscypha phyllogena are similar.

Auricularia americana is a wood-rotting species, typically found on dead attached or fallen wood of conifers. It is widely distributed in North America (primarily in the Northeast, between April and September) and is also known from China and the Russian Far East.

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