Daldinia childiae

Cramp Balls

A hard, ball- or cushion-shaped fungus on decaying hardwood logs that is reddish brown when young and becomes black and pimpled. Cut open, it shows concentric black and pale zones. It is the common eastern North American species long reported as Daldinia concentrica, which is a European species absent or very rare in North America.

Species profile

Edibility

Not edible

Inedible; hard and carbon-like.

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Habitat

Saprobic on decaying hardwood logs, less often conifer logs, singly or in groups. Fruits spring through fall (over winter in warm climates); the tough fruit bodies persist through winter.

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Characteristics

Fruiting body: 7-32 mm across, 10-20 mm tall, ball- to cushion-shaped. Surface: smooth and hard when young, becoming pimply with embedded black perithecia; pinkish brown to reddish brown, then dark brown to nearly black. Interior: concentric zones of blackish and whitish-greyish, carbon-like tissue. KOH: crushed crust releases brown to reddish brown pigment. Spores: 12-18 x 6-8 um, ellipsoid with one flattened side, very dark brown, with a thin germ slit. Asci: 8-spored.