Lingdong Black Fungus

Lingdong Black Fungus

　　Shaped like human ears, hence the name “fungus” (木耳, literally “wood ear”); resembling graceful butterflies perched on branches, it is also called “wood moth”; due to its delicious taste reminiscent of chicken, it is also known as “tree chicken” or “wood chicken” (in ancient southern Chu, people referred to chicken as “chicken” (机)). When layered fungus grows clustered on trees, they look like drifting clouds, earning it the name “cloud ear.”

The two main types of fungus commonly consumed are: one with a smooth ventral side, black in color, and a gray or grayish-brown, hairy back—known as hairy fungus (commonly referred to as wild fungus); the other is smooth on both sides, dark brown, and semi-transparent—called glossy fungus. Hairy fungus has larger ears but a coarse and tough texture, is hard to chew, has an inferior taste, and is low in price. Glossy fungus is soft in texture, delicious, smooth yet refreshing, and rich in nutrients. It is the type widely cultivated artificially.

Black fungus consists of two parts: mycelium and fruiting body. The mycelium is colorless and transparent, made up of many septate and branched tubular hyphae. It serves as the nutritional organ that decomposes and absorbs nutrients for the fungus. The fruiting body is the edible part and functions as the reproductive organ of the fungus. Initially, the fruiting body is cup-shaped or bean-sized, gradually growing into wavy, leaf-like or ear-like forms. Many fruiting bodies cluster together to form a daisy-like shape.

Fresh fruiting bodies are translucent, gelatinous, and elastic, typically 4–6 cm in diameter, though some can reach 10–12 cm. When dried, they shrink drastically, becoming hard, brittle, and horny. The fruiting body has distinct dorsal and ventral sides: the dorsal side (the side attached to the host wood) is raised, dark bluish-gray in color, and densely covered with short, soft hairs (a characteristic crucial for fungus classification), which do not produce basidiospores. The ventral side is concave, with a smooth surface or veined wrinkles, deep brown or tea-colored, and when mature, is densely covered with neatly arranged basidiospores.

Under a microscope, basidiospores are kidney-shaped, measuring 9–14 × 5–6 μm, colorless and transparent. Many basidiospores clustered together appear powdery white. After drying, the fruiting body shrinks significantly in volume, with the basidiospores adhering like a layer of white frost on the ventral side. When dried black fungus absorbs water and swells, it returns to its original fresh, expanded state.