[2] The European A. auricula-judae is superficially similar, but it is not as dark as cultivated A. heimuer and microscopically distinguishable by its larger basidia and spores, the latter measuring 14.5–18 x 5–6 μm.

[3] A. heimuer was described in 2014 as a result of molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences, into wild and cultivated species of Auricularia in China.

[1] Auricularia heimuer is a wood-rotting species, typically found on the dead standing or fallen wood of broadleaf trees.

The species occurs in temperate areas of northern China,[1] as well as the Russian Far East,[1] Korea,[4] and Japan.

Li Shizhen, in his Pen Tsao Kang Mu, quotes Tang Ying-chuan from that period as saying "put the steamed bran on logs, cover with straw, Wood Ear will grow".

A soup containing the species is used medicinally for dealing with colds and fevers in the belief that it reduces the heat of the body.

[7][8] According to a 2010 publication, the annual production of Auricularia species worldwide is the fourth highest among all industrially cultivated culinary and medicinal mushrooms.