Jew’s Ear
or auricularia polytricha, is a fungal
name, connoting the ear of Judas who
was said to have hanged himself from an elder
tree, where Jew’s Ears sprout, though here they
grow on deceased Māhoe trees, a.k.a. Whiteywood:
The English named it for its white bark; Māori
for bearing blue-purple berries. Incidentally,
Māori called the Jew’s Ear hākekakeka:
keka meaning ‘lunacy’ and ‘lament’;
hā meaning ‘breath’ and ‘sound’.
What grief did they hear in the
deadman’s ear? His keka
echoing from dead tree
trunks that spilled
violet tears?
Deborah Faith Thompson