Auricularia angiospermarum | |
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Auricularia angiospermarum on dead broadleaf tree, Missouri | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Division: | Basidiomycota |
Class: | Agaricomycetes |
Order: | Auriculariales |
Family: | Auriculariaceae |
Genus: | Auricularia |
Species: | A. angiospermarum
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Binomial name | |
Auricularia angiospermarum Y.C. Dai, F. Wu & D.W. Li (2015)
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Auricularia angiospermarum (wood ear or tree ear) is a species of fungus in the family Auriculariaceae. Basidiocarps (fruitbodies) are gelatinous, ear-like, and grow on dead wood of broadleaf trees. It is a North American species and was formerly confused with Auricularia auricula-judae which is confined to Europe.
The species was originally described in 2015 from Connecticut on a fallen oak trunk. It had previously been referred to Auricularia americana 'deciduous unit',[1] but additional molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences, has shown that Auricularia angiospermarum is a distinct species.[2][3]
Auricularia angiospermarum forms thin, brown, rubbery-gelatinous fruit bodies that are ear-shaped and up to 80 mm (3.1 in) across and 3 mm (0.12 in) thick. The fruitbodies occur singly or in clusters. The upper surface is finely pilose. The spore-bearing underside is smooth.[3]
The microscopic characters are typical of the genus Auricularia. The basidia are tubular, laterally septate, 45–65 × 3.5–5 µm. The spores are allantoid (sausage-shaped), 13–15 × 5–5.5 µm.[3]
In North America, Auricularia americana is almost identical but grows on conifer wood.[2][3] On wood of broadleaf trees, Auricularia fuscosuccinea occurs in southern North America and typically has cinnamon-brown to purplish-brown fruitbodies.[1] Auricularia nigricans is also southern, but has a densely pilose upper surface.[1]
Auricularia angiospermarum is a wood-rotting species, typically found on dead attached or fallen wood of broadleaf trees. It is widely distributed in North America, but is not currently known elsewhere.[3]