The two species are said to be almost identical.  Mushroom varying from less than an inch to several inches wide, rubbery, gelatinous-looking, brown, more-or-less round, with wavy edges and large wrinkles, flattened to bowl-shaped, attached by short central stalk. A. angiospermarum grows on dead wood of  deciduous trees, while A. americana grows on dead wood of conifers.  Since the wood is dead and decayintg, it is often difficult to determine the wood substrate, and thus the species.  In either case, with the help of just a little imagination the mushroom does look like a misshapen ear growing out of a decaying log, stick or stump, giving rise to both the common and genus names (auricula is Latin for little ear). The fertile surface, from which the spores are released, is usually pointing downward and is smooth and shiny, while the sterile back surface is somewhat whitened and downy. Fruits spring to fall, especially after a period of wet weather. The fruiting body can persist between wet periods by drying up and becoming small, dark and hard, as in the picture at bottom right.

One or the other, or both species are common in Wildwood.

The weird ear shape, brown color, and growth on wood make this an easy mushroom to recognize.  Getting the species requires identifying the source of the wood it grows on.

Europeans know the species A. auricula-judae, commonly known as Judas's Ear or Jew's Ear,  This species is said to be particularly common on elder trees (Sambucus nigra) which is believed to have given rise to the tradition that Judas hanged himself on an elder tree, despite the fact that elder trees are not native to Palestine.  More recently the scientific and common names have been considered insulting and derogatory, leading to the use of the scientific name A. auricula and the common name Tree or Jelly Ear.  The name A. auricula, however, is not valid by the rules of scientific nnomenclature. European colonists in America thought they recognized their creepy mushroom friend in America, but they were wrong, and recent DNA studies have shown that the European species is not found in America.  We actually have three species, of which these two are likely to be found in Wildwood, and the third (A. fuscosuccinea) further south.