The mushroom can have various shapes, colors, and sizes and lives as a saprophyte or minor parasite causing white rot. It grows in a chaotic way, attached to dead or decaying branches and can form huge clusters in wet conditions. Although, it has been found on various types of trees in India's Western Ghats and in rainforests in Australia. Judas's Ear mushrooms grow on the wood of old trees, deciduous species, and shrubs, mostly found on beech, ash, spindle, or Acer pseudoplatanus trees. The flesh is thin, dense, cartilaginous, translucent, without a pronounced smell. 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. It can be smooth, as is typical of younger specimens, or undulating with folds and wrinkles. The upper surface is a reddish-tan-brown with a purplish tint and finely pilose (covered in tiny, grey, downy hairs). Fruit bodies have a tough, gelatinous, elastic texture when fresh, but dry hard and brittle. It is attached to the substrate laterally and sometimes by a very short stem. It is often reminiscent of a floppy ear, but can also be cup-shaped. auricula-judae is normally up to 3.5 inches (9 cm) across and up to 0.12 inches(3 mm) thick. Auricularia auricula-judae Identification Other names: Wood Ear Mushroom, Judas's Ear, Jelly Ear Mushroom, Czech Republic (Jidášovo ucho), Spain (Oreja de Judas). The name Judas's Ear comes from a legend linking the ear-like shape of the mushroom to the apostle Judas who betrayed Jesus. The European species is now referred to as Auricularia auricula-judae, while the commercially grown Chinese and East Asian species is called Auricularia heimuer (black wood ear). The species was once thought to be cosmopolitan, but molecular research showed it to be at least seven different species worldwide. It grows throughout the year in Europe and America and is commonly used in Asian soups. It has a purplish-grayish brown to dingy brown color, is smooth and wrinkled in the center, and has fine hairs. Wood Ear Mushroom, scientific name Auricularia auricula-judae, is a type of edible jelly mushroom with an ear-shaped form that grows on trees, especially elder trees.
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