Auricularia auricula-judae, Mushroom
Auricularia auricula-judae is a species of fungus grown on dead elder trees and on fallen branches. It is commonly known as Judas's Ear Fungus, Jew's Ear and Jelly Ear Fungus. The origin of the name was that Auricularia formed its ear-shaped fruiting bodies as a curse on the elder tree on which Judas hanged himself. "Auricularia" means ear and the epithet "auricula-judae" means "the ear of Judas." Auricularia auricula-judae is mainly seen in late summer and autumn. It grows to 3-10 cm across and is conspicuously ear shaped, with color ranging from purple to dark brown or black, and a rubbery texture. In Chinese, this species is known as wood ear or tree ear, kikurage in Japanese, and in Vietnamese it is often known as nam tai meo. This fungus is often used in Asian cooking. Judas's Ear fungus is known to have medicinal properties, and herbalists use the mushroom as a poultice to treat inflammations of the eyes.  Auricularia auricula-judae Author: Svdmolen (Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0-unported) | ||
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