Auricularia auriculata: an annual twining herb of the genus Malvaceae. It is as crisp and refreshing as edible fungus when chewed, so it is called Auricularia auriculata. It is a kind of vegetable that people like very much. Its leaves are oval or nearly round, the tip is gradually pointed, the base is slightly heart-shaped or round, and it is often grown in fields. It is planted all over China.

Auricularia: Auricularia of Auricularia is one of the important edible fungi in China. Its fruiting body is thin, elastic, gelatinous, translucent, concave, often ear-shaped or ring-shaped, and gradually changes to leaf-shaped, parasitic on damp and decaying trunk.

1. Essential differences

1. Saxifraga: an annual twining herb of the genus Abelmoschus in the family Abelmoschus. Its leaves feel like touching agaric, and it is as crisp and refreshing as eating agaric when chewing, so it is named Saxifraga, which is a kind of vegetable that the public likes very much.

2. Auricularia: Auricularia of Auricularia, one of the important edible fungi in China.

Second, the difference of morphological characteristics

1. Saxifraga: the stem is fleshy, up to several meters long, hairless, the leaves are oval or nearly round, the top is tapered, the base is slightly heart-shaped or round, and there are grooves on the petiole. Spikes are axillary, bracts are extremely small, caducous, perianth segments are reddish or lavender, oval, filaments are short, white, and anthers are yellowish. The fruit is spherical.

2. Auricularia auricula: Mycelium is composed of colorless and transparent tubular hyphae with transverse septum and branches. The fruiting body is thin, elastic, gelatinous, translucent, concave, often ear-shaped or ring-shaped, and gradually becomes leaf-shaped. The base is narrow into ear roots, with smooth surface or veined wrinkles. After drying, it shrinks strongly, and the seed layer on the upper surface turns dark brown to nearly black, while the lower surface is dark grayish brown and covered with extremely short fluff.

Third, the difference of growing environment

1. Saxifraga: It is often born in the fields, below 2 meters above sea level.

2. Auricularia auricula: parasitic on damp and decaying trunk, growing on rotten wood of more than 12 kinds of broad-leaved trees, such as oak, poplar, banyan and Sophora japonica, living singly or in groups.

Fourth, the difference of distribution range

1. Saxifraga: It is native to tropical Asia and is cultivated in Asia, Africa and America. It is mostly cultivated in the north and south of China, and it is wild in the south.

2. Auricularia auricula: China is the main producer of Auricularia auricula. The producing areas are mainly distributed in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Zhejiang, Hubei and Shaanxi.