Local name: Bjili Namcho

Edibility: Edible

Habitat: Ondead logs, branches and stumps and solitary to gregarious.

Description: Fruit bodies: Ear-shaped, 5-15 cm wide. Upper surface (sterile):  Often veined with fine downy hair, pale brown to brown-pink, blackish when dried.  Lower surface (fertile):  Con-colour to the upper surface and slightly velvety rarely has mild venations. Flesh: Thin and rubbery, pale brown to brown-pink. Spore Print: Creamy white.

Comments: Auricularia auricular-judae  is an edible species and widely consumed in China, where they sell the dried fruit bodies in many supermarkets. Because of its appearance it can be confused with some cup-shaped mushrooms but usually A. auricula-judae grows attached laterally to the wood and has no stem. The cup-shaped mushrooms are more fragile and brittle, while A. auricula-judae has consistency like rubber and is hard to break when fresh. Besides being an edible species, A. auricula-judae has medicinal properties such as antibiotic and anti-inflammatory.

Reference
Mata, M., D. Penjor and S. Pradham. 2010. Fungi of Bhutan. National Mushroom Centre, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Thimphu, Bhutan.