Toad's Ear

Toad's Ear is the dark-coloured member of Otidea, its species name bufonia — of the toad — referring to the drab, dusky brown tone of the fruiting body rather than to any resemblance in shape. Where its relatives are yellow, tan or leather-coloured, this one is dark chocolate to sepia or nearly blackish brown, and it is generally the most robust and thick-fleshed of the group.

The form follows the genus pattern: an ear-like structure split from margin to base on one side, one edge higher than the other, tapering below into a short stalk-like base buried in litter. Fruiting bodies often occur in small clusters, and the dark colouring makes them easy to overlook against leaf litter and shaded soil.

It sits in the Pyronemataceae alongside the other ear fungi, and is generally the least commonly recorded of the four widespread European and North American Otidea species.

Fruiting body

Ear-shaped, 2–6 cm tall and 2–5 cm wide, split down one side to the base, often somewhat broader and more substantial than Hare's Ear, with the margin entire and inrolled. Fruiting bodies frequently grow in small crowded tufts.

Surfaces

The inner surface is smooth and dark brown, sepia, umber or nearly blackish brown. The outer surface is similarly dark or slightly paler and duller, finely mealy or granular in texture. There is no yellow, pink or ochre flush anywhere on fresh material.

Stipe

A short, thick, pale to brownish stalk-like base bearing white mycelial down at the point where it enters the soil.

Flesh & spore print

The flesh is comparatively thick for the genus, brownish, firm and pliant rather than brittle, unchanging when cut and without exudate. The spore print is white, and the spores are smooth and elliptical with two oil droplets, similar in size to those of Hare's Ear.

Toad's Ear fruits on soil, humus and leaf litter in deciduous and mixed woodland, often under beech, oak and other broadleaved trees, and sometimes in mixed stands with conifers. It prefers shaded, moist, humus-rich ground and is often found on gentle slopes and along the edges of woodland paths.

The season is late summer through autumn. The species is scattered across temperate Europe and parts of North America and is generally regarded as less frequently encountered than Hare's Ear or Tan Ear, in part because its dark colouring blends so thoroughly with the litter it grows in.

It is a litter- and humus-dwelling fungus of the forest floor, decomposing fallen leaves and fine organic material, in common with the rest of Otidea. White mycelial strands are often visible binding leaf fragments at the base of the fruiting bodies, marking the extent of the colony in the upper humus layer.

As with its relatives, the one-sided, upright growth form holds the spore-producing inner surface vertically so that discharged spores are carried away horizontally by air moving through the litter layer, an arrangement that keeps the hymenium clear of falling leaves.

Tan Ear (Otidea alutacea) is the closest in habitat and form but is much paler — dull leather-brown to greyish tan — and typically opens into a broader, shallower cup. Hare's Ear (Otidea leporina) is a warmer tan to fox-brown, more strictly ear-shaped, and more strongly tied to conifer needle litter. The Lemon Peel Fungus (Otidea onotica) is unmistakably yellow with a pinkish inner flush.

Dark brown Peziza species such as the Common Brown Cup (Peziza phyllogena) are similar in colour but form symmetrical, brittle bowls that sit flat on the ground rather than standing upright with a lateral split. Wynnea species are larger, reddish brown, and grow in clusters from a common underground tuber.