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''Auricularia auricula-judae'', which has the recommended English name jelly ear, also known as Judas’s ear or Jew’s ear, is a
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
of fungus in the
order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...
Auriculariales The Auriculariales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. Species within the order were formerly referred to the "heterobasidiomycetes" or "jelly fungi", since many have gelatinous basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that produce spores on ...
.
Basidiocarp In fungi, a basidiocarp, basidiome, or basidioma () is the sporocarp of a basidiomycete, the multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne. Basidiocarps are characteristic of the hymenomycetes; rusts and smuts do no ...
s (fruit bodies) are brown, gelatinous, and have a noticeably ear-like shape. They grow on wood, especially
elder An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority. Elder or elders may refer to: Positions Administrative * Elder (administrative title), a position of authority Cultural * North American Indigenous elder, a person who has and ...
. The specific epithet is derived from the belief that Judas Iscariot hanged himself from an elder tree; the common name "Judas's ear" was largely eclipsed by the corruption "Jew's ear". The fungus can be found throughout the year in Europe, where it normally grows on wood of broadleaf trees and shrubs. It was formerly thought to be a variable species with a worldwide distribution, but molecular research, based on
cladistic Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived cha ...
analysis of DNA sequences, has shown that non-European species are distinct. The cultivated "A. auricula-judae" of China and East Asia is ''
Auricularia heimuer ''Auricularia heimuer'', also known as heimuer () or black wood ear, is a species of fungus in the order Auriculariales. It is commercially cultivated for food in China at a value exceeding $4 billion (USD) per year. The species was previously ...
'' and, to a lesser extent, '' A. villosula''. The North American "A. auricula-judae" on broadleaf trees is ''
Auricularia angiospermarum ''Auricularia angiospermarum'' (wood ear or tree ear) is a species of fungus in the family Auriculariaceae. Basidiocarps (fruitbodies) are gelatinous, ear-like, and grow on dead wood of broadleaf trees. It is a North American species and was fo ...
'', with ''
Auricularia americana ''Auricularia americana'' is a species of fungus in the family Auriculariaceae. Basidiocarps (fruitbodies} are gelatinous, ear-like, and grow on dead conifer wood. The species was formerly confused with ''Auricularia auricula-judae'', which gr ...
'' on conifers. ''Auricularia auricula-judae'' was used in
folk medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...
as recently as the 19th century for complaints including sore throats, sore eyes and
jaundice Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving abnormal heme meta ...
, and as an
astringent An astringent (sometimes called adstringent) is a chemical that shrinks or constricts body tissues. The word derives from the Latin ''adstringere'', which means "to bind fast". Calamine lotion, witch hazel, and yerba mansa, a Californian pla ...
. It is edible, but not widely consumed.


Taxonomy

The species was first described as ''Tremella auricula'' by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 '' Species Plantarum'' and later (1789) redescribed by Bulliard as ''Tremella auricula-judae''. In 1822, Swedish mycologist
Elias Magnus Fries Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist. Career Fries was born at Femsjö ( Hylte Municipality), Småland, the son of the pastor there. He attended school in Växjö. He acquired a ...
accepted Bulliard's epithet and transferred the species to '' Exidia'' as ''Exidia auricula-judae''. In so doing, Fries sanctioned the name, meaning that the species epithet "''auricula-judae''" takes priority over Linnaeus's earlier "''auricula''". The species was given the name ''Auricularia auricula-judae'' in 1888 by
Joseph Schröter Joseph Schröter (14 March 1837 – 12 December 1894) was a noted German mycologist, doctor and scientist. He wrote several books and texts, and discovered and described many species of flora and fungi. He also spent around fifteen years, from 187 ...
. The specific epithet of ''A. auricula-judae'' comprises ''auricula'', the Latin word meaning ''ear'', and ''Judae'', meaning ''of Judas''. The name was criticised by American mycologist
Curtis Gates Lloyd Curtis Gates Lloyd (July 17, 1859 – November 11, 1926) was an American mycologist known for both his research on the gasteroid and polypore fungi, as well as his controversial views on naming conventions in taxonomy. He had a herbarium with abou ...
, who said "''Auricularia auricula-Judae'' is cumbersome and in addition is a slander on the Jews". Though critical of
Lucien Marcus Underwood Lucien Marcus Underwood (October 26, 1853 – November 16, 1907) was an American botanist and mycologist of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Early life and career He was born in New Woodstock, New York. He enrolled at Syracuse University in ...
, saying he "would probably not have known the Jew's ear from the calves' liver", he followed him in using ''Auricularia auricula'', which was in turn used by American mycologist Bernard Lowy in his monograph on the genus. Despite this, ''Auricularia auricula-judae'' is the valid name for the species. The species was long thought to be somewhat variable in colour, habitat, and microscopic features but cosmopolitan in distribution, though Lowy considered it a temperate species and doubted that it occurred in the tropics. Molecular research, based on
cladistic Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived cha ...
analysis of DNA sequences, has, however, shown that ''Auricularia auricula-judae'' as previously understood comprises at least seven different species worldwide. Since ''A. auricula-judae'' was originally described from Europe, the name is now restricted to the European species. The commercially cultivated Chinese and East Asian species, still frequently marketed and described as ''A. auricula-judae'' or ''A. auricula'', is ''
Auricularia heimuer ''Auricularia heimuer'', also known as heimuer () or black wood ear, is a species of fungus in the order Auriculariales. It is commercially cultivated for food in China at a value exceeding $4 billion (USD) per year. The species was previously ...
'' (black wood ear).


Vernacular names

The medieval Latin name ''auricula Judae'' (Judas's Ear) matches the vernacular name in most European languages (c.f. French ''oreille de Judas'', German ''Judasohr''). The mistranslation "Jew's Ear" appeared in English by 1544. The fungus is associated with Judas Iscariot because of the belief that he hanged himself on an elder tree after his betrayal of Jesus Christ. Folklore suggests that the ears are Judas's returned spirit, and are all that are left to remind us of his suicide. The
common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...
of the fungus was originally "Judas's ear", but this was later shortened to "Judas ear" and then "Jew's ear". Common names for the fungus which refer to Judas can be traced back to at least the end of the 16th century; for instance, in the 17th century, Thomas Browne wrote of the species:
In ''Jews' ears'' something is conceived extraordinary from the name, which is in propriety but ''fungus sambucinus'', or an excrescence about the roots of elder, and concerneth not the nation of the Jews, but Judas Iscariot, upon a conceit he hanged on this tree; and is become a famous medicine in quinsies, sore throats, and strangulations, ever since.
While the term "Jew's meat" was a deprecatory term used for all fungi in the Middle Ages, the term is unrelated to the name "Jew's ear". A further change of name to "jelly ear" was recommended in the ''List of Recommended Names for Fungi''. The idea was criticised by the author Patrick Harding, who considered it "to be the result of political correctness where it is not necessary", and who "will continue to call he speciesJew's ear", explaining that, while anti-Semitism was commonplace in Britain, the name "Jew's ear" is in reference to Judas, who was a Jew. Unrelated common names include the "ear fungus" and the "common ear fungus". The species was known as "fungus sambuca" among herbalists, in reference to '' Sambucus'', the generic name for elder.


Description

The fruit body of ''A. auricula-judae'' is normally up to across and up to thick. It is often reminiscent of a floppy ear, but can also be cup-shaped. It is attached to the substrate laterally and sometimes by a very short stalk. Fruit bodies have a tough, gelatinous, elastic texture when fresh, but dry hard and brittle. The upper surface is a reddish-tan-brown with a purplish tint and finely
pilose Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plan ...
(covered in tiny, grey, downy hairs). It can be smooth, as is typical of younger specimens, or undulating with folds and wrinkles. The colour becomes darker with age. The under surface is a lighter grey-brown and smooth, sometimes folded or wrinkled, and may have "veins", making it appear even more ear-like. Entirely white fruit bodies are occasionally encountered and were once given the name ''Auricularia lactea'', but they are merely unpigmented forms and often occur in company with ordinary, pigmented fruit bodies.


Microscopic features

The spores of ''A. auricula-judae'' are allantoid (sausage-shaped), 15-22 x 5-7 μm; the
basidia A basidium () is a microscopic sporangium (a spore-producing structure) found on the hymenophore of fruiting bodies of basidiomycete fungi which are also called tertiary mycelium, developed from secondary mycelium. Tertiary mycelium is highly-c ...
are cylindrical, 65–85 × 4–5.5 μm, with three transverse septa (internal cross-walls). Hairs on the upper surface are 100-150 μm in length and 5-7.5 μm in diameter. They are hyaline, thick-walled, and have acute to rounded tips.


Similar species

in Europe, the only similar species is '' Auricularia cerrina'', recently described on oak (''Quercus'') from the Czech Republic, but probably more widespread in southern Europe. It can be distinguished by its dark grey to almost black fruit bodies. The Asian ''
Auricularia heimuer ''Auricularia heimuer'', also known as heimuer () or black wood ear, is a species of fungus in the order Auriculariales. It is commercially cultivated for food in China at a value exceeding $4 billion (USD) per year. The species was previously ...
'' is very similar and has long been confused with ''A. auricula-judae''. It can be distinguished microscopically by its shorter basidia and shorter spores (11–13 × 4–5 μm). The American ''
Auricularia angiospermarum ''Auricularia angiospermarum'' (wood ear or tree ear) is a species of fungus in the family Auriculariaceae. Basidiocarps (fruitbodies) are gelatinous, ear-like, and grow on dead wood of broadleaf trees. It is a North American species and was fo ...
'' is also similar, but also has shorter basidia and spores (13–15 × 4.8–5.5 μm).


Habitat, ecology and distribution

''Auricularia auricula-judae'' grows on the wood of deciduous trees and shrubs, particularly ''
Sambucus nigra ''Sambucus nigra'' is a species complex of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae native to most of Europe. Common names include elder, elderberry, black elder, European elder, European elderberry, European black elderberry and tramman (Isle ...
'' (elder). It is also common on ''
Acer pseudoplatanus ''Acer pseudoplatanus'', known as the sycamore in the British Isles and as the sycamore maple in the United States, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is a large deciduous, broad-leaved tree, tol ...
'' (sycamore), ''
Fagus sylvatica ''Fagus sylvatica'', the European beech or common beech is a deciduous tree belonging to the beech family Fagaceae. Description ''Fagus sylvatica'' is a large tree, capable of reaching heights of up to tall and trunk diameter, though more ...
'' (beech), ''
Fraxinus excelsior ''Fraxinus excelsior'', known as the ash, or European ash or common ash to distinguish it from other types of ash, is a flowering plant species in the olive family Oleaceae. It is native throughout mainland Europe east to the Caucasus and Albo ...
'' (ash), ''
Euonymus europaeus ''Euonymus europaeus'', the spindle, European spindle, or common spindle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Celastraceae, native to much of Europe, where it inhabits the edges of forest, hedges and gentle slopes, tending to thrive on ...
'' (spindle), and in one particular case, the sycamore draining board of an old sink in
Hatton Garden Hatton Garden is a street and commercial zone in the Holborn district of the London Borough of Camden, abutting the narrow precinct of Saffron Hill which then abuts the City of London. It takes its name from Sir Christopher Hatton, a favourit ...
. It very rarely grows on conifers. It favours older branches, where it feeds as a saprotroph (on dead wood) or a weak parasite (on living wood), and it causes a
white rot A wood-decay or xylophagous fungus is any species of fungus that digests moist wood, causing it to rot. Some species of wood-decay fungi attack dead wood, such as brown rot, and some, such as '' Armillaria'' (honey fungus), are parasitic and co ...
. Commonly growing solitarily, it can also be gregarious (in a group) or
caespitose This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary ...
(in a tuft).Lowy 1952, p. 658 Spores are ejected from the underside of the fruit bodies with as many as several hundred thousand an hour, and the high rate continues when the bodies have been significantly dried. Even when they have lost some 90% of their weight through dehydration, the bodies continue to release a small number of spores. It is found all year, but is most common in autumn. The species is widespread throughout Europe, but is not known to occur elsewhere.


Uses


Culinary use

''Auricularia auricula-judae'' has a soft, jelly-like texture. Though edible, it is not held in high culinary regard. It has been likened to "eating an Indian rubber with bones in it", while in 19th-century Britain, it was said that "it has never been regarded here as an edible fungus". The species is said to be commonly consumed in Poland. It has a mild flavour, which may be considered bland. It can be
dried Drying is a mass transfer process consisting of the removal of water or another solvent by evaporation from a solid, semi-solid or liquid. This process is often used as a final production step before selling or packaging products. To be considered ...
and rehydrated, sometimes swelling to 3 – 4 times in size. The species is not edible when raw, needing to be cooked thoroughly. A reference serving of dried fungus provides of
food energy Food energy is chemical energy that animals (including humans) derive from their food to sustain their metabolism, including their muscular activity. Most animals derive most of their energy from aerobic respiration, namely combining the carbohyd ...
, 10.6 g of protein, 0.2 g of fat, 65 g of carbohydrate, 5.8 g
ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non-gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...
, and 0.03% mg of carotene. Fresh mushrooms contain about 90% moisture. Dried specimens may be ground up into a powder and used to absorb excess liquid in soups and stews, as it rehydrates into tiny fragments.


Medicinal use

''Auricularia auricula-judae'' has been used as a medicinal fungus by many
herbalist Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remedies ...
s. It was used as a
poultice A poultice, also called a cataplasm, is a soft moist mass, often heated and medicated, that is spread on cloth and placed over the skin to treat an aching, inflamed, or painful part of the body. It can be used on wounds, such as cuts. 'Poultice ...
to treat inflammations of the eye, as well as a palliative for throat problems. The 16th-century herbalist
John Gerard John Gerard (also John Gerarde, c. 1545–1612) was an English herbalist with a large garden in Holborn, now part of London. His 1,484-page illustrated ''Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes'', first published in 1597, became a popular gard ...
, writing in 1597, recommended ''A. auricula-judae'' for a very specific use; other fungi were used more generally. He recommends the preparation of a liquid extract by boiling the fruit bodies in milk, or else leaving them steeped in beer, which would then be sipped slowly in order to cure a sore throat. The resultant broth was probably not dissimilar to the Chinese soups that use ''
Auricularia cornea ''Auricularia cornea'' (毛木耳, maomuer or cloud ear) is a species of fungus in the order Auriculariales. It is commercially cultivated for food in China. The species was previously referred to ''Auricularia polytricha'', but the latter speci ...
''.
Carolus Clusius Charles de l'Écluse, L'Escluse, or Carolus Clusius (19 February 1526 – 4 April 1609), seigneur de Watènes, was an Artois doctor and pioneering botanist, perhaps the most influential of all 16th-century scientific horticulturists. Life ...
, writing in 1601, also said that the species could be gargled to cure a sore throat, and John Parkinson, writing in 1640, reported that boiling in milk or steeping in vinegar was "the onely use the are put unto that I know". Writing in 1694, herbalist John Pechey described ''A. auricula-judae'' by saying "It grows to the Trunk of the Elder-Tree. Being dried it will keep a good year. Boyl'd in Milk, or infus'd in Vinegarm 'tis good to gargle the Mouth or Throat in Quinsies, and other inflammations of the Mouth and Throat. And being infus'd in some proper Water, it is good in Diseases of the Eyes." The species also saw use as an
astringent An astringent (sometimes called adstringent) is a chemical that shrinks or constricts body tissues. The word derives from the Latin ''adstringere'', which means "to bind fast". Calamine lotion, witch hazel, and yerba mansa, a Californian pla ...
due to its ability to absorb water. There are recorded medicinal usages from Scotland, where it was again used as a gargle for sore throats, and from Ireland, where, in an attempt to cure
jaundice Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving abnormal heme meta ...
, it was boiled in milk. The medicinal use of ''A. auricula-judae'' continued until at least 1860, when it was still sold at Covent Garden; at the time, it was not considered edible in the United Kingdom.


Pharmacology

Numerous research papers have been published on possible medicinal applications of a fungus said to be "Auricularia auricula-judae" or "Auricularia auricula", but it is not always clear which species was used for research. At least some papers published from Asia have used locally-sourced material and probably refer to ''
Auricularia heimuer ''Auricularia heimuer'', also known as heimuer () or black wood ear, is a species of fungus in the order Auriculariales. It is commercially cultivated for food in China at a value exceeding $4 billion (USD) per year. The species was previously ...
'' or other regional species known to have potential pharmaceutical applications.


Cultural depictions

The species is referred to in
Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (; baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon the "m ...
's play '' The Jew of Malta''. Iathamore proclaims: "The hat he wears, Judas left under the elder when he hanged himself". Later, the species was probably partially the inspiration for Emily Dickinson's poem beginning "The Mushroom is the Elf of Plants", which depicts a mushroom as the "ultimate betrayer". Dickinson had both a religious and naturalistic background, and so it is more than likely that she knew of the common name of ''A. auricula-judae'', and of the folklore surrounding Judas's suicide.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Auricularia Auricula-Judae Auriculariales Fungi described in 1789 Fungi of Europe Medicinal fungi Judas Iscariot