Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Dead Man's Finger
Order: Xylariales
Family: Xylariaceae
Genus: Xylaria
Species: X. polymorpha
Identifying Characteristics:
- Elongated upright, club-shaped, resembling burned wood, occasionally flattened
- Found with a multiple of separate "digits" but sometimes the "digits" will fuse together
- Dark fruiting body-- often black or brown, but sometimes it can be shades of blue/green
- White on the inside, with a blackened dotted area all around
- 3-10 cm tall; up to 2.5 cm across
-tough
Special Adaptations:
- Plant pathogen
- Common inhabitant of forest and woodland areas, usually growing from the bases of rotting or injured tree stumps and decaying wood
- It has also been known to colonize substrates like woody legume pods and herbaceous stems
- The spore distribution is a lengthy process, sometimes taking several months to complete this part of the life cycle
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