Coral Spot

Nectria cinnabarina

Forests, parks, gardens. Autumn, spring.

Perithecia (semi-closed type of fruiting bodies) tiny, round, 0.5-2 cm across, soft, of waxy consistency, hard when old, ruby-red, brownish-red, fading to brownish, pinkish, greyish-brownish; under a magnifying glass the surface looks as if wrinkled. Characteristic features: spores with one transverse central septum. Grows on almost all dead deciduous trees and shrubs, trunks and branches, in autumn, on warmer winter days and in spring. Fairly harmful to gardens – currants, raspberries, gooseberries, as well as fruit trees. Lives mostly as a saprotroph, more rarely as a biotroph. Very common.