Massee. — The Fungus Flora of Neiv Zealand. 47 



68. Hirneola, Fries. 



Substance thin, cartilagineo-gelatinous, soft and tremelloid when 

 moist, rigid when dry ; sporophore cup-shaped or human- 

 ear shaped, fertile surface poHshed, sterile surface velvety. 



Hirneda, Fries, Fung. Natal, p. 24. 



Differs from Auricularia, its nearest ally, in not becoming 

 bullately inflated when moist, the substance being no thicker 

 when moist than when dry. Basidia rod-shaped or fusoid, 

 transversely septate, each cell bearing a single sterigma which 

 in turn bears an oblong curved spore. 



Hirneola polytricha, Montag.. Bel. Voy. Ind. Or., Crvpt., p. 154 ; 

 Austr. Fung., p. 206, fig. 90 ; Sacc, Syll. vi, no.' 8.311. 



Hemispherical, then expanded, sessile but narrowed to a 

 more or less central or oblique point of attachment, thin and 

 elastic, rigid when dry ; hymenium even, dark-brown with a 

 purple tinge ; externally even, minutely but densely velvety, 

 greyish, becoming a rich yellowish-brown when dry ; size 

 variable, 4-12 cm. across ; spores hyaline, colourless, smooth, 

 sausage-shaped, slightly curved, 14-15 x 6-7 fx. 



On trunks, branches, &c. New Zealand. Australia, Tas- 

 mania, Java, Ceylon, Tahiti, Madagascar, South Africa, South 

 America, Cuba, Mexico, Chatham Islands, Lord Howe Island, 

 Torres Straits. 



Differs from Hirneola auricula-judcB in the absence of raised 

 wrinkles on the pileus. A very widely distributed species, and 

 one of the few fungi used ^n a large scale, and over a widely 

 extended area, for food. Mr. T. Kirk gives the following account 

 in the " Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand 

 Institute," vol. xi, p. 454 (1878). "An Edible Fungus: 

 Hirneola folytricha is collected and sent to China, where it is 

 highly prized for food and medicine. In 1887 220 tons, valued 

 at £11,318, were collected in New Zealand and exported." 



Hirneola auricvla-judce, Berk., Outl., p. 289, pi. 18, fig. 7 ; 

 Cooke, Austr. Hdbk., p. 206 ; Sacc, Syll. vi, no. 8312. 



Hemispherical, then expanded and more or less resembling 

 a human ear in shape, sessile, thin, soft and flexible when moist, 

 rigid when dry, 3-8 cm. diameter ; hymenium glabrous, uneven 

 with anastomosing ridges and folds, dingy flesh-colour, then 

 blackish or dark-brown ; externally showing irregular wrinkles, 

 minutely but densely tomentose, greyish-olive, often brownish 

 when dry ; spores smooth, hyaline, continuous, sausage-shaped, 

 slightly bent, 20-25 x 7-9 /.-. " 



On dead branches ; in Europe most abundant on Samhucus. 



