Cramp-ball
(Carbon Bal, or King Alfreds Cakes)
Description
Fruit-body wrinkly spherical to cushion-shaped, 2-6 x 1-3 cm. Outer surface smooth, with indistinct papillae, red-brown to black. When cut vertically, concentric circles are visible, which alternate in colour between a silvery shine and black.
Occurrence
On dead branches and dead parts of trunks of broad-leaved trees, favouring Ash, in broad-leaved woods, parks and ash coppice.
Saprophyte.