482 



MUSHROOMS, EDIBLE AND OTHERWISE 



Himeola. Fr. 



Hirneola is the diminutive of hirnca, a jug. Gelatinous, cup-shaped, horny 

 when dry. Hymenium wrinkled, becoming cartilaginous when moistened. The 

 hymenium is in the form of a hard skin which covers the cup-shaped cavities, and 

 which can be peeled off after soaking in water, the interstices are without papillae 

 and the outer surface is velvety. 



Himeola auricula- J udce. Berk. 



The Jew's Ear Hirneola. Edibee. 



Auricula-Judae, the ear of the Jew. The plant is gelatinous; one to four 

 inches across ; thin, concave, wavy, flexible when moist, hard when dry ; blackish, 

 fuzzy, hairy beneath ; when covered with white spores it is cinereous. The 

 hymenium by its corrugations forms depressions such as are found in the human 

 ear. One will not fail to recognize it after seeing it once. It is not common in 

 our woods, yet I have found it on several occasions. It is found on almost any 

 timber but most frequently on the elm and elder. The plant in Figure 406 was 

 found near Chillicothe. Its distribution is general. 



Figure 406. Hirneola auricula-Judae. 



