Wood ear mushroom (Auricularia auricula-judae)

Japanese: キクラゲ(木耳) - キクラゲ（英語表記）Auricularia auricula-judae

A mushroom of the Basidiomycete family, Auriculares, Auricularaceae. It grows on the trunks of various broad-leaved trees in summer and autumn. Its shape closely resembles a human earlobe, hence its scientific name, Jewish ear, and its Chinese name, meaning wooden ear. However, when wet, it is soft and agaric, reminiscent of a jellyfish, so its Japanese name means wooden jellyfish. The upper surface is purple-brown and slightly wrinkled, while the lower surface is pale reddish brown and smooth. When it dries, it becomes leathery and dark purple in color. When a cross section of the fruiting body is examined under a microscope, the layer near the bottom is densely lined with thin hyphae vertically in the agar, with basidiospores sporadically growing between them. The basidiospores are thicker than the hyphae, long and cylindrical, and have a thin stalk at the bottom. Eventually, three septa form horizontally to form four cells, and long basidiospores emerge from the upper end of each cell, and when the tip of each cell reaches the surface of the bottom of the fruiting body, basidiospores begin to form there. The basidiospores are kidney-shaped and colorless. This species is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, but in Japan it is called Aragekikurage, and is very common in a species that is very similar to the wood ear mushroom but is larger and has densely grown short, rough gray-brown hairs on the upper surface. Both species are commercially available for consumption.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

担子菌類キクラゲ目キクラゲ科のキノコ。夏秋の頃に，種々の広葉樹の幹に発生する。その形が人の耳たぶによく似ているので学名はユダヤ人の耳，漢名は木の耳の意。しかし湿った状態では寒天質で軟らかくクラゲを思い浮べるので，日本名では木のクラゲの意である。上面は紫褐色でやや皺を生じ，下面は淡い赤褐色で平滑である。乾くと革質になり，色も黒紫色となる。子実体の横断面を顕微鏡で調べると，裏面に近い層には寒天質中に細い菌糸が縦に密に並び，その間に担子器をまばらに生じる。担子器は菌糸よりも太く，長円筒形で，下部は細い柄になっている。やがて横に3隔壁を生じて4細胞となり，そのおのおのの上端から長い担子柄を出して，その先端が子実体下面の表面に達すると，そこに担子胞子を生じるようになる。担子胞子は腎臓形で無色である。本種は広く熱帯・亜熱帯に分布するが，日本ではアラゲキクラゲと称し，キクラゲとよく似ているが，形が大きく，上面に灰褐色の短い粗毛が密生している種がきわめて普通にみられる。両種とも食用のため市販されている。

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