Jelly earAuricularia auricula-judae

Yes, it is safe as long as you always cook it — boil, braise or fry it for at least 5–10 minutes. Do not eat it raw. Long-standing cultivation and consumption in Asia confirm it is safe when properly prepared.

There are no serious dangerous lookalikes. You could confuse it with its close relative A. mesenterica (tripe fungus), which has zones and a greenish down on the upper surface from algae. Both are conditionally edible. There are no other similar jelly fungi of this color and shape in Ukraine.

Most often on dead or weakened branches of black elder (Sambucus nigra). Also on lilac, elm, oak and alder. It loves damp, shady spots — forest edges, wooded ravines, riverbanks. Throughout Ukraine.

Almost year-round, from March to November, and in mild winters in winter too. The mushroom tolerates frost: it dries out, and during a thaw it takes up moisture again and becomes edible. It is most abundant in spring and fall after prolonged rain.

Slice fresh or rehydrated dried mushrooms into thin strips. Braise with vegetables, add to soups (Chinese, Japanese), stir-fry with ginger and soy sauce. Before cooking, soak dried ones for 30–60 min in warm water. They swell 5–10 times in volume.

Mostly on weakened and dead branches, less often on old living trees. It is a saprotroph and facultative parasite — it attacks a weakened tree but leaves a healthy one alone.

Traditional Chinese medicine has used it for millennia as a tonic and blood-cleansing remedy. Modern research confirms an antithrombin effect (it thins the blood) and an ability to lower cholesterol. But it is not a medicine — eat it as a cooking ingredient, not as "medication."

Yes, the mushroom is widely cultivated on oak and elder logs, as well as on sterilized sawdust substrate. A log fruits for 4–6 years. In China it is the second most cultivated mushroom by volume after the oyster mushroom.