No. 12 · White & Cream
Snow Fungus
Tremella fuciformis
“A flower made of glass”
Translucent white frills that look like a flower carved from ice. This jelly fungus has been simmered into sweet soups in China for hundreds of years.
Fun fact!It dries into a hard, brittle ball and springs back to life when soaked in water.
- Where in the world
- Tropical and subtropical regions worldwide
- Home
- Dead hardwood branches, alongside other fungi
- When to look
- After warm rain; much of the year in the tropics
- Size
- 4–8 cm across
The snow fungus, also called silver ear or white jelly fungus, looks like it was blown from glass. It forms a cluster of thin, wavy, see-through lobes, white with a faint shimmer, gathered together like the petals of a peony.
A jelly fungus
Snow fungus belongs to the jelly fungi, a group with a soft, rubbery, gelatinous body. When it rains, it swells with water and looks plump and glossy. In dry weather it shrinks into a hard, crinkled lump. When rain returns, it soaks up water and comes back to its full size, ready to release spores again.
An unusual lifestyle
Snow fungus has a secret. It does not simply eat dead wood. It lives as a parasite of another fungus (a crusty wood-decay species called Annulohypoxylon) and uses that partner’s mycelium to get its food. Growers have to cultivate both fungi together to produce it.
In the kitchen
Snow fungus is edible and has been part of Chinese cooking and traditional food culture for centuries. It is usually sold dried. After soaking, it is simmered into sweet soups with pears, red dates and goji berries, where it becomes silky and almost jelly-like. It has very little flavour of its own, which makes it perfect for desserts.