Is this a fungus?

[pressld2]

Hi,

On a visit to the RSPB Northward Hill nature reserve last weekend I saw this tree covered in black blobs...



Here is a close-up of them...



The tree was alive and seemed to be unaffected by their presence. The blobs were quite hard to the touch - I couldn't possibly have pushed my thumb through them.

I'm guessing that it's a fungus of some kind but only because I can't think what else it might be. I've never seen anything like it before.

Dave P.

[FungiJohn]

Yes Dave. It's Cramp Ball or St Alfreds Cakes - Daldinia concentrica. Quite common this time of year.

John

[pressld2]

Thanks John, for such a speedy response when I know you have other worries on your mind at the moment (http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/fo...iday-13th.html)

And apologies too - as soon as I'd posted this I spotted another thread asking the same question and getting the same answer from you!

Does it harm the host tree at all? Are they all individual fungi growing on the bark or is it a single organism with something like a mycelium spreading through the tree?

Dave P.

[FungiJohn]

Originally Posted by pressld2

Thanks John, for such a speedy response when I know you have other worries on your mind at the moment (http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/fo...iday-13th.html)

And apologies too - as soon as I'd posted this I spotted another thread asking the same question and getting the same answer from you!

Does it harm the host tree at all? Are they all individual fungi growing on the bark or is it a single organism with something like a mycelium spreading through the tree?

Dave P.

It's quite an interesting species Dave.

It lives most of the time within the host tree, doing no harm whilst the tree is healthy and active (fungus is passive at this stage). But once the tree is damaged (by other fungi possibly) or the tree starts to decay then the fungus will kick in and live off the dead or decaying tree. Its also odd in that it produces its spores only at night time (during the darkness) the spores are then carried by wind, insects etc to other host trees.

They can live for about 2 years but are very quickly replaced by new fungi bodies.

John

[brainfarmer]

can u eat them?

[leon-b]

they are common on dead ash trees, they cannot be eaten but if you cut them in half you can light it with a spark and it will smoulder for a long time and give you a nice glowing red ember
leon

[brainfarmer]

ah thanks leon i think ive seen that guy of the tv use it for that reason. ray mears (its taken me 10 mins to recall his name).

[leon-b]

yes, then you add it to dry grass etc and blow it, you should get a flame fairly quickly
they dont look too tasty do they lol
leon

[pressld2]

Thanks everyone for the really interesting and informative replies. I'm planning to go back to Northward Hill next weekend so I might try to get hold of one and experiment with the spark.

Dave P.

[leon-b]

if you get enough of them you can light them all and use them like charcoal to cook on. but if you do this dont collect them all from the same tree.
leon