Fallopia japonica typical to see much smaller plants in places where they sprout through cracks in the pavement or are repeatedly cut down. The leaves are broad oval with a truncated base, long and broad, with an entire margin. The flowers are small, cream or white, produced in erect racemes long in late summer and early autumn. Closely related species include giant knotweed ("Fallopia sachalinensis", syn. "Polygonum sachalinense") and Russian vine ("Fallopia baldschuanica", "Polygonum baldschuanicum"). Other English names for Japanese knotweed include fleeceflower, Himalayan fleece vine, monkeyweed, monkey fungus, Hancock's curse, elephant ears, pea shooters, donkey rhubarb (although it is not a
Cloud ear fungus Cloud ear fungus Cloud ear fungus ("Auricularia polytricha", syn. "Hirneola polytricha") is an edible jelly fungus. It grows on trees in mountainous regions, is gray-brown in color, and is often used in Asian cooking, especially Chinese cuisine. It is known as Mandarin , lit. "cloud ear", , lit. "hairy wood ear"), and in Japanese it is called "ara-ge-ki-kurage" (, lit. "rough-hair-tree-jellyfish"). It is also known as black fungus, black Chinese fungus (or mushroom), wood ear fungus, wood fungus, ear fungus, or tree ear fungus, an allusion to its rubbery ear-shaped growth. In Europe, it is frequently misidentified as "Jew's ear",