Image of ear fungus

Description:

Slo.: bezgova uhljevka, judeevo uho - Habitat: Steep river bank, northeast oriented, calcareous ground, in mixed predominantly Fagus sylvatica forest, humid place (ground and air), about 15 m above water level of the river, mostly in shade; partly protected from direct rain by tree canopies; average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 8-10 deg C, elevation 360 m (1.200 feet), alpine phytogeographical region. - Substratum: a large stump of a cut down Fagus sylvatica in its initial stage of disintegration. - Comments: Unusual shape and substratum. Short but distinctive stalk. First I thought it's an ascomycete like Peziza sp. or something similar. But I found no asci. Growing solitary, pileus diameter 2.5 cm (~1 inch), smell indistinctive, flesh extremely gelatinous, almost liquid, with quite strong, flexible and thin 'skin', hairy underside; SP faint whitish. During drying it shrunk heavily. - Spores smooth, allantoid. Dimensions: 20.6 (SD = 1.1) x 7.0 (SD = 0.5) μ, Q = 2.96 (SD = 0.19), n = 30. Olympus CH20, NEA 40x/1.25, magnification 400 x, in water, congo red, AmScope MA500 digital camera. - Mycotheca and lichen herbarium (LJU-Li) of Slovenian Forestry Institute, Večna pot 2, Ljubljana, Index Herbariorum LJF - Ref.: (1) Personal communication with Mr. Gregor Podgornik, NAC Tolmin. Id'ed by him. (2) R.Lueder, Grundkurs Pilzbestimmung, Quelle & Meyer (2008), p 144. (3) D.Arora, Mushrooms Demystified, Ten Speed Press, Berkeley (1986), p675. (4) R.M. Daehncke, 1200 Pilze in Farbfotos, AT Verlag (2009), p 1069. (5) M.Bon, Parey's Buch der Pilze, Kosmos (2005), p 324.