Auricularia...?

[seiendesuyo]

Hello all,

Went mushroom hunting yesterday, and found quite a few specimens. The two that I'm most interested in both look very similar, but were found in two different locations, but I believe they were the same type of tree- I believe oak but I could be mistaken (Sorry in advance, some of my photos are sideways).

Neither mushroom had any real stem to speak of. I attempted to do a spore print, but either I did it wrong or the print was white ( on white paper). Fruiting body thin and sort of rubbery, though some I picked were a little more tough and brittle (possibly older in the life cycle?).

I believe both to be Wood Ear mushrooms, but I'm mostly just wondering if there are any known poisonous look alikes? I can't find much information. These are not the first mushrooms I've found and attempted to identify, but I have yet to eat any of my findings...

What do you guys think?

[jmw]

Auricularia are most common on Elder and rarely but occassionally on other hardwoods. I have not heard of or read about them being on Oak though. There are several Cup Fungi that can look very similiar to Auricularia sp. However, my understanding is that the Cup Fungi face up ward where as woods ears do not. I am unaware of any poisonous look a likes, but will admit to having limited knowledge on these.

[Dave W]

First photo looks like Auricularia to me. The other photos are not well enough focussed for me to form an opinion. So I'd say that there's a good chance that at least SOME of the mushrooms seen here are Tree Ears.

For purposes of ID it's a good idea to carefully harvest a few entire specimens and photograph them in a staged setting in filtered sunlight using the macro setting on your camera. Clear in-situ photos can be difficult to achieve. However, in-situ shots give info about the habitat and growth habit. So it's a good idea to try a few different types of photos.

Other types of mushrooms that resemble Auricularia are Cup Fungi, some of which grow on wood. Most of these have fragile/brittle flesh. Also, there are a few Jelly Fungi that somewhat resemble Auricularia, such as Exidia. The texture for these types is usually not as resiliant/rubbery as is Auricularia. Edibility of Cup Fungi is not well-understood, because there are many different species. Auricularia is best used as food after it has been dehydrated, just like the imported Asian "Cloud Ears."

[seiendesuyo]

I've come to a few conclusions here: A) I should perhaps work on being more able to positively identify the trees in my area and I should work on taking some better photos.

Thanks for the info, guys! I've got a LOT more research to do.