Dead Moll's Fingers - Xylaria longipes

Description

The fruitbody is club shaped or cylindrical, smooth or slightly downy, black and warty, narrowing slightly in to brownish-black and flexible stem. When immature the growths are soft and pale grey with pinkish tips.  

Similar Species

Dead Man's Fingers (Xylaria polymorpha). Sometimes confused with Earth-tongues (Geoglossum) but these grow in grasslands, not on dead wood

Identification difficulty
Habitat

On fallen branches of broad-leaved trees, usually Sycamore

When to see it

Frequent throughout the year but mainly in summer and autumn.

UK Status

Quite frequent and widespread in Britain.

VC55 Status

Fairly common in Leicestershire and Rutland.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Dead Moll's Fingers
Species group:
Fungi
Kingdom:
Fungi
Order:
Xylariales
Family:
Xylariaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
14
First record:
02/10/2005 (Nicholls, David)
Last record:
29/11/2023 (Nicholls, David)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

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