Beech Woodwart

Brick red to brown fruiting bodies that looked like petrified raspberries. They were 3-5 mm in size. Most had bumps on the surface - the bumps are the openings of structures called perithecia, which are embedded just below the surface. The perithecia form ascospores. The interior flesh was black.

comments (4)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

Your fungi shots are such a source of inspiration. What to me is a 1 in a 100 incredible fungi highlight for you seems to be just the default. Each one a jewel. Posted 7 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks. I've got plenty of half rotten, chewed up fungi shots, lol. I like to shoot both pretty and "ugly" ones because they are all legitimately part of nature...I just haven't posted many of the "ugly" ones. I love the Beech Woodwart though because they look like tiny, insignificant bumps on a log, that most people walk right by. But, up close, they are actually quite interesting, and the interior is tar-like and impressively nasty. Posted 7 years ago
2. 1. Ferdy Christant
    
    Lion
    
    Don't be too shy in sharing less than perfect speciment or shots, could still have a lot of value here :) Posted 7 years ago
  2. 1. Christine Young
      
      Lion
      
      Agreed! Posted 7 years ago

The Beech Woodwart

Hypoxylon is a genus of Ascomycetes commonly found on dead wood, and usually one of the earliest species to colonise dead wood. A common European species is Hypoxylon fragiforme which is particular common on dead trunks of beech.

Based on morphological studies and gene sequence analyses, 27 species formerly assigned to Hypoxylon sect. Annulata were reassigned to a new genus called Annulohypoxylon in 2005.

Info 10 0

Similar species: Xylariales

Species identified by Christine Young