Xylaria polymorpha (Pers.) Grev.
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common name(s) : Dead Man's Fingers
New classification: Ascomycota/Pezizomycotina/Sordariomycetes/Xylariomycetidae/Xylariales/Xylariaceae
Former classification: Ascomycota/Hymenoascomycetes/Pyrenomycetideae/Xylariales/Xylariaceae
(unconfirmed synonyms: Xylosphaera polymorpha, Hypoxylon polymorpha, Xylaria schweinitzii)
edibility : inedible
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The fruiting body is club-shaped, single and irregular, as thick as a finger, warty, tapering at the base, black (possibly covered with grey dust in spring), without stem.
The flesh is white, tough; its taste is not distinctive; the odour is not distinctive.
The fertile surface is smooth.
The spore print is blackish.
It grows on wood, in broad-leaved woods, on tree trunks and stumps, on beech, oak.
The fruiting period takes place all year long.
Dimensions: |
width of fruiting body approximately 2 cm (between 1 and 4 cm) |
| total height approximately 6 cm (between 3 and 10 cm) |
Chemical tests : asci tips blued with Melzer's reagent.
Distinctive features : single fruiting bodies, club-shaped, irregular, warty, blackish and matt, often in tufts on dead beech wood
Xylaria polymorpha is rare and localised in the forest of Rambouillet, and is very frequent, more generally speaking
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| | Above : distribution map of Xylaria polymorpha in the forest of Rambouillet |
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page updated on 14/01/18