Orecchietta

This mushroom gets its English name from the fact that it usually grows on older elder trees, the tree from which Judas Iscariot hung himself. The Italian name refers to the fact that it is shaped like a human ear. It is brown in colour, with a velvety texture on the surface and shiny inside. It grows in colonies, one above the other throughout the year, even in winter if the weather is mild and humid. It does not have either pores or gills. Instead its spores are produced inside the mushroom and it propagates itself on the bark of the tree when it is wet.