Plural of auricularia, a type of gelatinous fungus also called wood ear, often used in Asian cooking.
From Latin 'auricularis' (relating to the ear) because these fungi resemble human ears in shape. The scientific name reflects their distinctive appearance.
Wood ear fungi got their scientific name 'auricularia' because they literally look like ears growing on tree bark—mycologists saw something that resembled human ears and named it accordingly, which is a common practice in science when organisms have distinctive shapes.
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