![Check out our instagram feed instagram](https://dunndealpublications.com/wp-content/plugins/social-media-feather/synved-social/image/social/regular/96x96/instagram.png)
![Share on Facebook Facebook](https://dunndealpublications.com/wp-content/plugins/social-media-feather/synved-social/image/social/regular/96x96/facebook.png)
![Share on Twitter twitter](https://dunndealpublications.com/wp-content/plugins/social-media-feather/synved-social/image/social/regular/96x96/twitter.png)
![Share by email mail](https://dunndealpublications.com/wp-content/plugins/social-media-feather/synved-social/image/social/regular/96x96/mail.png)
During this time of year, in the rainy season, I have hiked along paths in which jelly-like fungi seem to appear on logs out of nowhere.
Jelly fungi is Tremella uniforms. (Kingdom: Fungi, Division: Basidiomycota, Class:Tremellomycetes, Order:Tremellales, Family:Tremellaceae, Genus: Tremella, Species: T. fuciformis)
Tremella fuciformis is a species of fungus that produces white, frond-like, gelatinous basidiocarps (fruiting bodies). It is widespread, especially in the tropics, where it can be found on the dead branches of broadleaf trees. This fungus is commercially cultivated and is one of the most popular fungi in the cuisine and medicine of China. Other names for Tremella fuciformis are snow fungus, snow ear, silver ear fungus, white jelly mushroom, and white cloud ears.
Tremella fuciformis is a parasitic yeast, and grows as a slimy, mucus-like film until it encounters its preferred hosts, various species of Annulohypoxylon (or possibly Hypoxylon) fungi, whereupon it then invades, triggering the aggressive mycelial growth required to form the fruiting bodies.
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 his book, Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms, Paul Stamets lists the following common names for Tremella fuciformis (which he calls “white jelly mushroom”): yin er, white jelly fungus, white jelly leaf (“shirokikurage”), silver ear mushroom, snow mushroom, and chrysanthemum mushroom.
Fruit bodies are gelatinous, watery white, up to 7.5 centimetres (3 inches) across (larger in cultivated specimens), 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.
Tremella fuciformis has been cultivated in China since at least the nineteenth century. Initially, suitable wooden poles were prepared and then treated in various ways in the hope that they would be colonized by the fungus. This haphazard method of cultivation was improved when poles were inoculated with spores or mycelium. Modern production only began, however, with the realization that both the Tremella and its host species needed to be inoculated into the substrate to ensure success. The “dual culture” method, now used commercially, employs a sawdust mix inoculated with both fungal species and kept under optimal conditions.
In Chinese cuisine, Tremella fuciformis is traditionally used in sweet dishes. While tasteless, it is valued for its gelatinous texture as well as its supposed medicinal benefits. Most commonly, it is used to make a dessert soup called luk mei (六味) in Cantonese, often in combination with jujubes, dried longans, and other ingredients.
Tremella fuciformis extract is used in women’s beauty products from China, Korea, and Japan. The fungus reportedly increases moisture retention in the skin and prevents senile degradation of micro-blood vessels in the skin, reducing wrinkles and smoothing fine lines. Other anti-aging effects come from increasing the presence of superoxide dismutase in the brain and liver; it is an enzyme that acts as a potent antioxidant throughout the body, particularly in the skin. Tremella fuciformis is also known in Chinese medicine for nourishing the lungs.
Thank you to Wiki and Paul Stamets
How can you observe these mysteries of nature?
Get out and enjoy The Great Florida Outdoors!
Dr. Robert Norman
Clinical Professor of Dermatology
Director–Center for Geriatric Dermatology, Integrative Dermatology and Neuro-Dermatology
8002 Gunn Hwy
Tampa, Florida 33626
813-880-7546
61 books (series editor of 13) ● 300+ articles ● 25 videos and films
● 16 photo calendars and exhibits ● 4 music CDs
Tampa Bay Medical Hero Award (2008)
● Hadassah Humanitarian Award (2012)
To order books click on these links:
Trade (Popular) Books
Clinical Books
Instructional Books
Read more of Dr. Norman’s articles here.
https://dunndealpublications.com/dr-robert-normans-articles/
![Check out our instagram feed instagram](https://dunndealpublications.com/wp-content/plugins/social-media-feather/synved-social/image/social/regular/96x96/instagram.png)
![Share on Facebook Facebook](https://dunndealpublications.com/wp-content/plugins/social-media-feather/synved-social/image/social/regular/96x96/facebook.png)
![Share on Twitter twitter](https://dunndealpublications.com/wp-content/plugins/social-media-feather/synved-social/image/social/regular/96x96/twitter.png)
![Share by email mail](https://dunndealpublications.com/wp-content/plugins/social-media-feather/synved-social/image/social/regular/96x96/mail.png)