E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Summary:
{See also Otidea Table.} Features include spoon-shaped to ear-shaped fruitbodies that are brown to deep purple-brown inside both when fresh and when dry, and somewhat darker purple-brown outside, short off-white base, and microscopic characters.

Otidea smithii is found in BC, WA, ID, CA, (Larsen), and OR (Castellano). Collections were examined from BC, WA, OR, and CA, (Olariaga).

Upper surface:
3-9cm tall, typically taller than broad; brown to deep purple-brown when fresh, margin even, (Castellano), up to 8cm high, elongate, ear-shaped, split on one side; "wood brown", drying "vinaceous-buff", (Kanouse), 1.3-4cm across, 3.2-7.0cm tall, "initially narrowly ear-shaped, short or elongated, finally expanding, at late stages becoming deeply cup-shaped, split", (Olariaga)

Flesh:
fragile when dry (Kanouse)

Underside:
exterior somewhat darker purple-brown, (Castellano), "Vandyke brown", "Rood''s brown", shading to "vinaceous" toward the base, (Kanouse), "warty, sometimes wrinkled at the base", warts conic, obtuse or acute, "gregarious, dark brown, sometimes slightly darker than the background", (Olariaga)

Stem:
"subsessile", covered with off-white hyphae, (Castellano), "arising from large solid foot-like base of mycelium intermixed with soil", (Kanouse), normally with a short stem, 1.2-2.6cm x 0.5-1.2cm, basal tomentum and mycelium "abundant, whitish to brown", (Olariaga)

Microscopic:
spores (12)13.5(15.5) x (6)6.5(8) microns, narrowly elliptic, smooth, with 2 droplets; asci 8-spored, inamyloid; paraphyses colorless, curved or hooked at tips, (Castellano), spores 10-12(14) x 6-7 microns, narrowly elliptic, smooth, colorless (or faintly yellowish), with 2 droplets; asci 8-spored, 100-160 x 12-14 microns, inamyloid; paraphyses with large hooked or bent tips, hooks sometimes ornamented by small irregular protuberances, (Kanouse), spores 12-14(14.5) x 6-7.5 microns, elliptic, sometimes fusoid, inequilateral, smooth, colorless, with two large droplets; asci 175-251 x 9-11 microns; paraphyses "curved to hooked, of the same width to slightly enlarged at apices", 3-5 microns wide, "sometimes with 1-3 notches or with a low notch near the apex", when dried containing refractive, pale yellow droplets; external surface with conic warts, 34-71(102) microns high; resinous exudates "rather abundant on the outside, dark brown", partly dissolving and turning reddish in Melzer''s reagent, (Olariaga)