King Alfred's Cakes

King Alfred's Cakes, or Cramp Balls, Daldinia concentrica. High Elms Country Park, 10 January 2012.

Given the choice of these two common names, I pick King Alfred's Cakes every time, though perhaps people who weren't fed colourful tales from history as a child won't get the reference. It refers to the story of how King Alfred the Great, defeated (temporarily) by the Danes, took refuge incognito with a woman who asked him to watch her cakes on the griddle, and how he was too wrapped up in thoughts of recovering his kingdom and let them burn. And these small black balls do have the look and texure of charcoal.

This is an old specimen, on a dead Ash. They rarely grow on any other species.  Below are some more shots from the same Ash, and you can see from the second one how it got its species name concentrica.

Dead Ash trunk covered with King Alfred's Cakes, Daldinia concentrica. High Elms Country Park, 10 January 2012.

Old King Alfred's Cake, Daldinia concentrica, mostly worn away, growing on a dead Ash.
High Elms Country Park, 10 January 2012.

I saw some more of these in Scadbury Park on 21st December, and this time they were young, fresh and still a little brown. I cut through this next one to confirm the concentric rings inside, and you can see that it was quite juicy, though the texture was still hard and crisp.

King Alfred's Cakes, or Cramp Balls, Daldinia concentrica.  Scadbury Park, 21 January 2012.

As with so many plants and fungi, you have to be careful that you don't confuse them with something else. For example, the fungi below are different; still black and hard, but smaller, with many crowded together, and without the concentric rings inside; and on Beech rather than Ash.

Beech Woodwart, Hypoxilon fragiforme.  The Knoll, Hayes, 18 January 2012.