Judas' Ear

Auricularia auricula-judae

Many species existing today have been named due to their fabled relationship to a person of high stature. My previous post on King Alfred's Cakes is one such example.
Another example is Judas' Ear, a fungus found growing on both living and dead wood. It has a shape and soft 'jelly-like' structure that resembles that of a human ear and is most commonly found growing on elder trees. Auricularia auricula-judae is its Latin name which follows the folklore behind its initial naming. The unusually hyphenated species name auricula means ear and judae means Judas. Judas Iscariot is believed to have hanged himself from an elder tree following his betrayal of Jesus Christ; the fungus found to resemble a human ear believed to be reincarnations of his own as a reminder of his suicide.

This fungus is known today more commonly as the Jelly Ear and can be found quite easily in the UEA forest. It is edible though is not known for tasting very good nor having a favourable texture. In folk medicine it was boiled and drank or gargled to cure sore throats.

Origins of Lycoperdon

Stump Puffball - Lycoperdon pyriforme

As I looked up information about the Stump Puffball the first thing that caught my eye was the latin name – Lycoperdon pyriforme. My Greek side, though distant and diluted, picked up on the Lyco- immediately. Lykos in Greek means wolf, my deepest fear. Is this relevant? Next to find out was the perdon part of the name. In Greek, perdomai means to ‘break wind’ but this did not make sense to me. Wolf fart?

Okay – next to research was pyriforme. This is Latin for ‘pear-shaped’ as older Stump Puffballs do have a similar conformity.

More mature Stump puffball. 

Pear-shaped wolf fart.


When Puffballs are mature a hole forms at the crest of their bulb. Following contact by external factors such as rain, wind, even being stepped on by animals, the spores encased within the puffball are released into the air in a cloud. It is from this method of dispersal that the Puffball was named. The Stump Puffball is the only puffball to grow on wood and not in open soil which is the most outstanding feature between the different species.


Puffball are very common throughout forests and can be easily spotted if you keep your gaze low.


Does anyone know anymore or any different to this?