The name "Judah's ear" for the mushroom Auricularia auricula-judae comes from the biblical story of Judas Iscariot, who, after betraying Jesus Christ, hanged himself from a tree (often mentioned as an elderberry) and from whose ear this mushroom allegedly grew, due to its similarity to the shape of the human ear and growth on the trunks of those trees, and became popular in folk medicine and cooking.