Black wood ear
Auricularia heimuer · 黑木耳
Common木耳科🍽 Cultivated Edible
A commercially cultivated edible fungus. Buy wild specimens only through reputable, regulated sources.
The same species can be described differently across regions and stages of maturity, and countless look-alike species cannot be told apart by eye. Never use the information on this page to judge whether a real mushroom is safe to eat.
How to Tell
- Ear-shaped and gelatinous, dark brown to blackish brown; translucent and rubbery when wet
- Shrinks, hardens, and blackens when dry, reviving when wetted
- Clusters on dead hardwood and cut logs
ID notes are compiled by AI from public sources, not reviewed by a mycologist, for learning only — never a basis for foraging.
Basics
- Family
- 木耳科
- Hymenium
- Smooth
- Grows On
- Wood
- How Big
- 3–12 cm (overall size)
- Encounter Rate
- Common
- Habitat
- Fallen hardwood and cut logs
Easily Confused With
Black witch's butterBlack, gelatinous mass, finely warted on the surface
Jelly earEar-shaped and gelatinous, reddish brown, finely hairy surface
Elm earEar-shaped and gelatinous, white to pale pinkFun Fact
The wood ear cultivated in China wasn't confirmed as its own species until 2014 — before that it was mistaken for Europe's jelly ear.
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