Names, authorship and dates from Index Fungorum.

• BasidiomycotaPhylum
• └─ AgaricomycetesClass
• └─ AuricularialesOrder
• └─ AuriculariaceaeFamily
• └─ AuriculariaGenus

Higher ranks from Catalogue of Life (COL26.9 XR).

Lifestylesaprobiontparasitism

Dead and dying elder (rarely other hardwoods)

⚠ Before you pickWild fungi may be taken in small quantities for your own use (§39(3) BNatSchG) — but not in nature reserves or national parks, on closed land or on farmland in use, and never for sale (§39(4)). In Bavaria this right is anchored in Art. 141(3) of the state constitution and is limited to locally customary amounts; the competent authority is the district nature-conservation authority (untere Naturschutzbehörde). Local signs and ordinances come first.

Species protection from BArtSchV Annex 1 and §2(1), retrieved 2026-10-15; Red List from Dämmrich et al. (2016) (BfN / Rote-Liste-Zentrum). Not legal advice — local rules and signage may be stricter. BArtSchV Annex 1 · Red List data

• edible mushroom

Edible, though it has very little flavour of its own

• ▸ Ear- or shell-shaped, translucent gelatinous fruit body
• ▸ Smooth inner surface, veins and folds on the outside
• ▸ Nut-brown to greyish-olive, rubbery when wet, hard and brittle when dry
• ▸ Grows solitary or in rows on dead wood

Known as wood ear in Asian cooking; when soaked in water it swells back to a gelatinous state and is used in soups and stir-fries.