''Auricularia mesenterica,'' commonly known as the tripe fungus, is a species of

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from t ...

in the family

Auriculariaceae The Auriculariaceae are a family of fungi in the order Auriculariales. Species within the family were formerly referred to the "heterobasidiomycetes" or "jelly fungi", since many have gelatinous basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that produce spores on ...

Basidiocarps In fungi, a basidiocarp, basidiome, or basidioma () is the sporocarp of a basidiomycete, the multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne. Basidiocarps are characteristic of the hymenomycetes; rusts and smuts do not ...

(fruit bodies) grow in undulating densely-packed shelves that adopt a partially resupinate form. ''A. mesenterica'' feeds saprotrophically on a number of woody substrates in

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

forests.

Taxonomy and etymology

''Auricularia mesenterica'' was described by

James Dickson James or Jim Dickson may refer to: Politicians *James Dickson (Scottish politician) (c. 1715–1771), MP for Lanark Burghs 1768–1771 *James Dickson (New South Wales politician) (1813–1863), member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly *Ja ...

as ''Helvella mesenterica'' in 1785, and transferred to the genus ''Auricularia'' by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon in 1822. Further genetic analysis has revealed an ''Auricularia mesenterica'' species complex, with ''A. mesenterica'' as the basal species. The specific epithet is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

adjective formed from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

word (''mesentérion''), "middle intestine", from (''meso-'', "middle, center") and (''énteron'', "intestine"), referring to its shape.

Description

This species forms bracket-like fruit bodies that first appear pale, rubbery, and button-like in shape, expanding to typically across and hardening with age. The fruit bodies often merge into compound structures sometimes running along fallen trunks and branches for more than . The upper surface is gray to brown,

tomentose Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a pl ...

to hispid with concentric zones, while the underside is thickly gelatinous, irregularly folded radially, wavy and putty-like, and reddish-brown. The spore print is white.

Distribution and habitat

This species is considered a

cosmopolitan species In biogeography, cosmopolitan distribution is the term for the range of a taxon that extends across all or most of the world in appropriate habitats. Such a taxon, usually a species, is said to exhibit cosmopolitanism or cosmopolitism. The extr ...

and grows on many different species of angiosperm wood, such as poplar, elm, and ash, typically in summer to fall. It is a common species in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, but rare in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

and China.

Uses

Before the fruit body fully matures and hardens, young specimens are

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from "eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...

, but in some local populations, these fungi tend to

bioaccumulate Bioaccumulation is the gradual accumulation of substances, such as pesticides or other chemicals, in an organism. Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a substance at a rate faster than that at which the substance is lost or eliminated ...

high levels of heavy metals from their environment. ''A. mesenterica'' has shown to have high levels of

phenols In organic chemistry, phenols, sometimes called phenolics, are a class of chemical compounds consisting of one or more hydroxyl groups (— O H) bonded directly to an aromatic hydrocarbon group. The simplest is phenol, . Phenolic compounds are ...

, flavonoids, and antioxidant activity, having potential as

antitumor Cancer can be treated by surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy (including immunotherapy such as monoclonal antibody therapy) and synthetic lethality, most commonly as a series of separate treatments (e.g. ...

agent.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q127357 Auriculariales Taxa named by James Dickson (botanist) Fungi described in 1785 Fungi of Europe