Beechmast Candlesnuff - Xylaria carpophila
The white-tipped thread-like fruit bodies on old beech mast in leaf litter are the sterile or asexual state of this fungus. Initially black near the sterile base and whitish with conidia (asexual spores) towards the tips, the whole of the fruitbody eventually blackens and becomes covered in minute pimples as the spores mature. The pimples are the openings of the spore-producing perithecia inside the fruitbody.
Photograph on beech mast; note substrate.
Old beech capsules buried in leaf litter.
All year round.
Kate Nightingale
Ulverscroft
28 February 2017
AJ Cann
Ulverscroft
11 March 2017
Graham Calow
Sapcote
20 February 2017
on beechmast
Steve Mathers
Jubilee Way (Stathern to Terrace Hills)
28 February 2017
Kate Nightingale
Ulverscroft
28 February 2017
Barbara Cooper
Charnwood Lodge NNR
14 February 2019
Kate Nightingale
Rocky Plantation
28 February 2017
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Species profile
- Common names
- Beechmast Candlesnuff
- Species group:
- fungus
- Kingdom:
- Fungi
- Order:
- Xylariales
- Family:
- Xylariaceae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 22
- First record:
- 20/02/2017 (Calow, Graham)
- Last record:
- 07/03/2024 (Timms, Sue)
Total records by month
% of records within its species group
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Latest images
Latest records
Kate Nightingale
Rocky Plantation
28 February 2017
Kate Nightingale
Ulverscroft
28 February 2017
Graham Calow
Sapcote
20 February 2017
on beechmast
