Daldinia concentrica | King Àlfred's Cake | Cramp Balls | Coal fungus

Daldinia concentrica 

Today we found an interesting fungus Daldinia concentrica which is known by several common names, including King Alfred's cake, cramp balls, and coal fungus. As with other fungi the light spores are distributed globally and the fungi develop wherever conditions are suitable - it lives on dead and decaying wood, and is a common, widespread saprotroph.  Daldinia concentrica (Bolton) Ces. & De Not. - King Alfred's Cakes

Phylum: Ascomycota - Class: Sordariomycetes - Order: Xylariales - Family:  Xylariaceae      

Daldinia concentrica, mushroom reported by the tribals for the wound healing activity.                            

Inside the fruitbody there are concentric silver-grey and black layers (pictured below), from which comes the the specific epithet concentrica. Described in 1791 by British mycologist James Bolton (c. 1735 - 1799), who gave it the scientific name Sphaeria concentrica, this ascomycetous fungus was transferred to the genus  Daldinia in 1863 by Italian mycologists Vincenzo de Cesati (1806 - 1883) and Giuseppe De Notaris (1805 - 1877). 

Daldinia concentrica is the type species of its genus. Common and widespread in Britain and Ireland and found throughout most of mainland Europe, this saprobic fungus occurs also in India North America, Australia and in many other temperate countries. Common referred to as King Alfred's Cakes (a reference to their burnt appearance, of course, because having been given shelter by a peasant woman Alfred, preoccupied by other concerns, was reputed to have inadvertently allowed her cakes to burn, having promised that he would watch her cakes cooking. They are also referred to as Cramp Balls (because carrying them was thought to cure attacks of cramps). These hard, inedible fungi appear most often on ash and beech wood but occasionally on other hardwood trees.

 ID: Dr. S. Karthik

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