Snow Fungus

Appearance

Fruit bodies are gelatinous, watery white, up to 7.5 cm across, and composed of thin but erect, seaweed-like, branching fronds, often crisped at the edges. Microscopically, the hyphae are clamped and occur in a dense gelatinous matrix.

Haustorial cells arise on the hyphae, producing filaments that attach to and penetrate the hyphae of the host. The basidia are tremelloid , 10–13 by 6.5–10 μm, sometimes stalked. The basidiospores are ellipsoid, smooth, 5–8 by 4–6 μm, and germinate by hyphal tube or by yeast cells.

Naming

''Tremella fuciformis'' was first described in 1856 by English mycologist Miles Joseph Berkeley, based on collections made in Brazil by the botanist and explorer Richard Spruce. In 1939, Japanese mycologist Yosio Kobayasi described ''Nakaiomyces nipponicus'', a similar-looking fungus that differed by having scattered, dark spines on its surface. Later research, however, showed that the fruit bodies were those of ''Tremella fuciformis'' parasitized by an ascomycete, ''Ceratocystis epigloeum'', that formed the dark spines. ''Nakaiomyces nipponicus'' is therefore a synonym of ''T. fuciformis''.

In Mandarin Chinese, it is called 银耳 , 雪耳 ; or 白木耳 , and in Japanese it is called ''shiro kikurage''. In Vietnam, it is called ''nấm tuyết'' or ''ngân nhĩ''.

In his book, ''Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms'', Paul Stamets lists the following common names for ''Tremella fuciformis'' :
⤷  Yin Er
⤷  White Jelly Fungus
⤷  White Jelly Leaf
⤷  Silver Ear Mushroom
⤷  Snow Mushroom
⤷  Chrysanthemum Mushroom

Distribution

''Tremella fuciformis'' is known to be a parasite of ''Hypoxylon'' species. Many of these species were reassigned to a new genus, ''Annulohypoxylon'', in 2005 including its preferred host, ''Annulohypoxylon archeri'', the species routinely used in commercial cultivation. Following its host, fruit bodies are typically found on dead, attached or recently fallen branches of broadleaf trees.

The species is mainly tropical and subtropical, but extends into temperate areas in Asia and North America. It is known throughout South and Central America, the Caribbean, parts of North America, sub-Saharan Africa, southern and eastern Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands.

Habitat

''Tremella fuciformis'' is known to be a parasite of ''Hypoxylon'' species. Many of these species were reassigned to a new genus, ''Annulohypoxylon'', in 2005 including its preferred host, ''Annulohypoxylon archeri'', the species routinely used in commercial cultivation. Following its host, fruit bodies are typically found on dead, attached or recently fallen branches of broadleaf trees.

The species is mainly tropical and subtropical, but extends into temperate areas in Asia and North America. It is known throughout South and Central America, the Caribbean, parts of North America, sub-Saharan Africa, southern and eastern Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands.