the.com/jelly ear
a wood-eating fungus shaped exactly like a human ear, wobbling on dead branches.
means A rubbery, ear-shaped fungus (Auricularia auricula-judae) that grows on decaying wood, especially elder, and is edible — the same species sold dried in many Asian cuisines.
from The name is plain description: the fungus is gelatinous and uncannily shaped like an ear. Its older English name, 'Jew's ear,' is a corruption of the Latin 'auricula Judae' — 'Judas's ear' — from the folk tale that Judas Iscariot hanged himself on an elder tree, the fungus's favourite host, so the ears were said to sprout in his memory. 'Jelly ear' is the modern, less-fraught name now preferred. The genus name 'Auricularia' simply means 'little ear' in Latin.
- latin name
- Auricularia auricula-judae, the Judas's ear
- texture
- rubbery, gelatinous, dries to a crisp
- culinary star
- prized in Chinese hot and sour soup
- folk medicine
- used for sore throats and eye complaints
- grows on
- loves dead and dying elder wood
auricularia auricula-judae — fungus found worldwide on elder trees, edible and used in asian cuisine since ancient times
wood ear mushroom — auricularia polytricha species common in chinese cooking, cultivated commercially in china and vietnam