What's this please...

[freefeet]

Maybe i'm blind, but i've never noticed fungi like this before today. Much appreciated if someone can tell me what it is, thanks!

[mollisia]

Hello,

this is a Daldinia species. I think its called "St. Alfreds cake" in Britain.

best regards,
Andreas

[thebeard]

yes, 'king alfreds cakes' or 'cramp balls'. does anyone know the etymology of the king alfred name? did he burn cakes a lot?!?

[fairplay]

Do you know what tree the wood is from as 'King Alfred's Cakes' has been split up into 7 or 8 different species now, and the tree makes a lot of difference.

Neil.

[freefeet]

No idea on the wood, there's all sorts of trees growing in that wood. We have a field archery course in there, it's all very old English woodland with streams running through. Lovely place.

Thanks for the ID's.

[freefeet]

Originally Posted by thebeard

yes, 'king alfreds cakes' or 'cramp balls'. does anyone know the etymology of the king alfred name? did he burn cakes a lot?!?

I just found this...

Legend has it that King Alfred, when in hiding from the Danes, once burnt some cakes by failing to take them out of the oven. These fungal growths, which look as if they have been burned, are a reminder of his poor cooking and hence are nicknamed “King Alfred’s Cakes”

[freefeet]

Also found this...

The black variety can be very useful for lighting fires because the inner flesh, once dried out, can be easily lit from a “firesteel” (this is an “artificial flint” which creates a spark for starting fires, much used in bushcraft). A spark will ignite the flesh of the fungus and, although it burns slowly like a barbecue briquette, once it has been lit one can transfer the glowing part to a ball of tinder and get a flame started.

Which means i'm gonna go and get some for me fire lighting kit.

Thanks once again for your help.

stan

[hamadryad]

the best fungus material for taking a spark of a fire steel is the fluffy material inside the giant puff ball, though it does always keep puffing spores! its like dusty all the time! tried all forms of fungi as tinder and the puff balls are the most reliable.

Most daldinias like Ash - fraxinus excelsior, though I do also find it on beech, chestnut, hippocastinum not sativa.

Also of interest regarding the "cramp ball" name I did once read something regarding one of this fungis compounds being good for cramps, and another as a dieretic.

cures cramps but gives you the trots in other words!

[diggleken]

just to add - they do start off brown and become blackened, then even dryer and tindrier to be good for fires as they are older and crumbly.
I like the species name normally used for Daldinia, concentrica, if you slice one, its clear how its developed and why its so named, a bit like dendrology with tree rings.
Interesting Neil, didnt know there were splits into different host/substrate tree types now.............something I thought was straightforward isnt anymore!
(just remembered, most kids on events we do have no idea about king arthur and his cakes !)
Cheers
Ken

[fairplay]

Most daldinias like Ash - fraxinus excelsior, though I do also find it on beech, chestnut, hippocastinum not sativa.
Hamadryad.
[/quote]
As far as I know it is only D.concentrica which grows on Ash, but D.concentrica can also be found on Horse Chestnut, Beech, Birch, Sorbus sp. and possibly others.
D.fissa seems confined to burnt Gorse, but there is also a stalkless form which also occurs on burnt Gorse.
Another that can occur on Gorse is D.caldariorum which is rare.
D.decipiens, also very rare, is known on Birch, D.grandis with Elm, and where you have burnt Birch, D.loculata can be present.

Neil.