Dead Man's Fingers

Xylaria polymorpha

Forests, parks, on rotten deciduous wood. Spring, summer, autumn (winter).

Perithecial stromata small, 4-6 (8) cm tall and up to 2 cm thick, club-, finger- or spindle-shaped, shaped like a bent boxing glove, light brown, brown when young, brownish-black, black, violet-black when mature, granular, wrinkled-warty. Stem short. Flesh white, tough, corky, thick. Characteristic features: spores black, large. Grows singly or in groups. Not rare, inedible. The shape of the fruiting body varies greatly – from finger-like and cylindrical to the shape of a boxing glove and others. An active saprotroph.