Brain-like fungus on burnt trunk.

Hi, I found an interesting mushroom and I wonder if it is familiar with you. Apart the pics, the cluesI have is that it was growing at the base of a burnt trunk, and when collecting samples I could see greyish-beige powder floating in the wind. To be continued... (but maybe it is a unique and easy fungus to identify.

No, the thing is that I am overwhelmed with beautiful collections and findings these days that I am trying to get some short cuts for bizarre fungi like this. It had no rained heavily in Malta for like 6 years and this year I am finding all sorts of things!

But specimen collected and will provide the micros and better macroimages as soon as I can (Tuesday maybe). I am really going insane

I will investigate. Quick response: This is the anamorph of Hypoxylon deusta which looks like a black amorphous stroma and I could see something like that on the trunk (I thought it was soot from the burning of this tree!)

Probably you are referring to S. incrustans

MycoDB : Fiche de Sebacina incrustans

I halted my investigation but when it dries it become like a coral body covered in ocre spore powder as in the pics of the link above. However that species is a grass species but this was on a burnt trunk.

Many thanks,,, to be continued

Hello, some time was dedicated to this astonishing fungus. First of all, this was growing on the base of the trunk of a complete burnt Ceratonia siliqua tree, in the sense that I think it was dead. Other burnt carob trees in the vicinity had new branches about 1m long sprouting after the September-November rain.

Now I examined the specimen which assumed an ochre-buff colour for being completely covered in spores. It appears that the fungus consists of repeating indeterminate budding, each bud about 4mm across. Beneath there is a gelatinous matrix with an olive-green colour that does not change in alkaline solution.

As expected, the reproductive part is carpeting the outer layer and could judge that they are conidiophores, like cactus trees with stout meticulae (or phialides) where at the apex there is a head of tiny bristle-like appendages where (conidia-)spores were attached to, hence looking like a Nodulosporum! Some hyphae had walls with incrusted pigment.

So now I am convinced that this is an Ascomycete, an anamorph of Xylariaceae, possibly a Hypoxylon? The fungus looks to be a Nodulosporum or look-alikes.

A year later, at the exact spot, there was a Daldinia concentrica growing, so I think the photos are the anamorph of Daldinia - Nodulisporium, which was at the moment of turning into the sexual stage. Some typical yellowish matrix can be seen in my photos too. Just a guess!