w ith stored bottled mycelium through three to five holes in each 

 log. 1 he entire pile is then co\ered with straw and a waterproof 

 tarp. The first fruiting bodies appear after 15 to 20 days; the 

 fungus continues to produce basidiocarps for the entire summer, 

 with production peaking in the hottest months of July and 

 August. The har\ested basidiocarps are sun dried, and packaged 

 for distribution. 



Restricted to the temperate forests of south China is a second 

 and rarer edible species oi' Auricularia know n as Mok Yee or the 

 White liacked Auricularia (Auricularia polylricha) (Montague) 

 Saccardo. Like the Black Fungus, it is cultivated, but on a far 

 smaller scale. 1 his fungus is e\tremel> tough and is used onl\ for 

 making soups. 



The two cuUi\ated Auricularias are similar in many respects. 

 In both, the fructification is piliate, tough to rubber} and gelati- 

 nous when fresh, the abhymenium is densely pilose, and the 

 basidiocarps are ne\er concentrically ringed. Lov\\ (1971) dis- 

 tinguishes the two species on the following characters: 



Auricularia auricula — abhyincnial hairs 100 X 6 microns, hymc- 

 niuni brown at lirsl, approaching black on drying, smoolli to 

 silicate, mctiulla lacking. 



Auricularia polytricha — abh\ nicnial hairs up to 450 X 6 microns 



h\mcniuni dr\ing purple to blackish, smooth to rugulose. medulla 

 a single h>phal band up to 250 microns wide. 



All edible Auricularias must be carefully prepared. The dried 

 fungus is placed in a bowl and boiling water is poured over it. In 

 thirt\' minutes it v\ill be succulent and edible. Several other 



/■ 



./ 



tague) hark, a common fungus o{ the Amazon basin, is boiled 

 {ov thirty minutes and eaten with hot sauce and cassava bread by 

 the Bora Indians of the I^eruxian Amazon. It is harvested from 

 the rotting wood that accumulates in their fields. 



V olvariella volvacea (Bull, ex Fr.) Singer 



The Padi Straw Mushroom is the Chinese equixalent of the 

 Luropean field mushroom. A gill fungus of the Pluteaceae, Vol- 

 variclla volvacea has a conical pileus 5 8 cm in diameter, which 

 is darkened at the tip. The stipe lacks an annulus, is slender 8-12 

 cm long and 1.2 2.0 cm wide. When fresh, the fungus is white 



60 



