Having only discovered jelly fungi quite recently, I was amazed to find this specimen laying innocuously on the concrete just outside the back door. I recognised it so immediately it was hard not to read it as a sign a-knocking on the door. From my reading I knew it was
Auricularia auricula-judae , or, Jew's Ear which grows all over the world and is popular in Asia. Dried jelly fungi bought in an Asian grocery will most likely be this.
It looks eerily like an ear too, so the effect of handling them is oddly intimate. The wiki entry explains: " Its specific epithet is derived from the belief that Judas Iscariot hanged himself from an elder tree; the common name "Judas's ear" eventually became "Jew's ear"".
It is a effective way of remembering what it grows on. Mushrooms are quite particular about these matters.
It looks eerily like an ear too, so the effect of handling them is oddly intimate. The wiki entry explains: " Its specific epithet is derived from the belief that Judas Iscariot hanged himself from an elder tree; the common name "Judas's ear" eventually became "Jew's ear"".
It is a effective way of remembering what it grows on. Mushrooms are quite particular about these matters.
It is firm yet pliable to the touch . What was it doing there on the ground, detached from it's Elder? Eavesdropping on conversations taking place inside? Is this what is meant by the expression "keeping an ear to the ground"?
and then with strong light shining through it...
Here it is four days later, dried and about a quarter of its original size. Jelly fungi are 90% water. (same plate as above, artificial light)
and with light shining through it again..
A couple of weeks ago I found a large amount of jelly mushroom and, having too much for soup that day, I spread it out on a mesh with a fan underneath and waited three days for it to dry out. It went in volume from over one quart to barely half a cup. It weighs nothing having been at around one pound in weight when I started.
It's incredible how efficient drying is.
