Auricularia nigricans
Auricularia nigricans 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 an American species, known from Louisiana and the Caribbean south to Argentina, and was formerly confused with the similar Asian species Auricularia polytricha, originally described from India. Taxonomy The species was first described in 1788 as Peziza nigrescens by the Swedish botanist Olof Swartz, based on a collection he made from Jamaica. In a later publication he changed the name to Peziza nigricans, which was accepted by the Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries. For abstruse nomenclatural reasons, Fries's sanctioned name takes priority over Swartz's original name. In his monograph of Auricularia species, American mycologist Bernard Lowy rejected the name as being "doubtful", preferring to call the species Auricularia polytricha. Olof Swartz's original collection still exists, however, enabling the identity of his species to be confirmed. Molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences, has shown that Auricularia nigricans is distinct. Description Auricularia nigricans forms thin, rubbery-gelatinous fruit bodies that are ear-shaped and up to across and thick. The fruitbodies occur singly or in clusters. The upper surface is densely tomentose and ash-grey to