Its specific epithet is derived from the belief that Judas Iscariot hanged himself from an elder tree ( Sambusus sp ), of which the fungus grows upon.
The common name “Judas’s ear”, then shortened to “Judas ear”, and eventually become “Jew’s ear” due to anti-Semitism in Britain, while “jelly ear” and other names are sometimes used.
The species was first mentioned as Tremella auricular by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753’s Species Plantarum, and later described by Jean Baptiste François Pierre Bulliard as Tremella auricular-judae. However, the genus Tremella is now reserved for fungal species that live as parasites on other fungi.
In 1791, Bulliard transferred the species to the genus Peziza.
In 1822, Elias Magnus Fries transferred it to the genus Exidia.
In 1860, Miles Joseph Berkeley described it as a member of Hirneola.
In 1888, Joseph Schröter named it Auricularia auricula-judae.
The fruit body of A. auricularia-judea is normally 3 – 8 cm. it s distinctively shaped, typically being reminiscent of a floppy ear. Its texture is tough, gelatinous, elastic when fresh, but it dries hard and brittle.
While it is not a choice edible mushroom in the West, it has long been popular in China. It is called 黑木耳 in Mandarin.
Biblical Narratives
Matthew 27
1 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. 2 So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.
3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. 4 “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”
“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”
5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
6 The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. 8 That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, 10 and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”
Acts 1
18 (With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
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