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Daldinia concentrica

 
Common referred to as King Alfred's Cakes, these hard, inedible fungi appear most often on ash and beech wood. Inside the fruit body there are concentric silver-grey and black layers.

Identification guide

Description

Initially brown and dense, the fruitbodies of Daldinia concentrica soon turn black, dry out and become less dense.

There is no stipe; the fruit body is attached to the host wood by a broad, flat area underneath the cushion-shaped fruit body.

The spore-bearing surface is the outside of the fruit body, and spores leavce a slightly darker area of wood around the fungus.

Dimensions

Individual fruit bodies are typically 2 to 8 cm across, but several may merge to form a much larger compound outgrowth.

Spore print

Black.

Odour/taste

Not distinctive.

Habitat

On dead or dying wood of ash trees. A very similar species occurs on beech.

Season

New fruit bodies appear from mid summer through to the end of autumn, but old, dried out fruit bodies sometimes persist for a year or two.

Occurrence

Frequent.

Similar species

  1. Several blackish crust fungi occur on dead wood. Ustulina deusta is one example; it does not have concentric rings within its fruit body and does not form cushion-shaped or ball shaped growths.
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