Xylaria hypoxylon
Xylaria hypoxylon is one of the prolific yet invisible species of mushroom that you don't see until you are looking for it. It grows on rotting wood and is often found in little troops of white tipped branching structures reaching up from beneath the duff or leaf litter. To me, they look like little crooked hands reaching up from a grave. Their white powdery tips over the leathery black stems have such a macrabe feel and thus why I love taking photos of them. If they were just a bit larger, they would make a great Samhain decoration.
Xylaria hypoxylon has a bigger purpose than satisfying my imagination, they are incredible wood rotters. In fact all of the genus Xylaria grow on decomposing substrate. Xylaria persicaria looks similar to these photos but only grows on peach pits (Beug, p.349). "...they are interesting because they are likely major players in the Earth’s breathing: the global carbon cycle. In the tropics, Xylariaare some of the most common wood decay fungi encountered, and while estimates vary, it is certain that they are responsible for a great deal of conversion of fixed carbon in wood back into carbon dioxide in the atmosphere—the slow exhaling of the Earth" (Vandegrift, 2016). It is because of this that Roo Vandegrift, from Eugene, OR, has been one of the leading scientists to help put fungi in the spotlight to help fight the climate crisis. His work has brought him around the world to meet with governments and write environmental law. All of this because of a tiny, prolific (almost 400 species of Xylaria have been recorded) and almost invisible mushroom.
If you want to learn more about how valuable Xylaria are, check out the video above that was presented by Harvard students in 2020. Roo Vandergrift was interviewed along with Giuliana Furci and other mycologists to learn what they are doing with fungi to help with the climate crisis.
Check out the resources below for more links and additional reading.
Check out the resources below for more links and additional reading.
Xylaria hypoxylon
Classification:
Fungi
Dikarya
Ascomycota
Pezizomycotina
Sordariomycetes
Xylariomycetidae
Xylariales
Xylariaceae
Xylaria
Description:
Fruiting body up to 10 cm tall, very tough and leathery. The tips are whitish to grey, branching like antlers, and often flattened. The base is black, and rounded. Eventually the entire specimen is black.
Spores are 15x6 um, bean shaped, smooth, with oil droplets and a germ slit.
They grow scattered or in dense groups on rotting branches, logs and stumps of hardwood, throughout the year. They are a very common mushroom in North America.
Classification:
Fungi
Dikarya
Ascomycota
Pezizomycotina
Sordariomycetes
Xylariomycetidae
Xylariales
Xylariaceae
Xylaria
Description:
Fruiting body up to 10 cm tall, very tough and leathery. The tips are whitish to grey, branching like antlers, and often flattened. The base is black, and rounded. Eventually the entire specimen is black.
Spores are 15x6 um, bean shaped, smooth, with oil droplets and a germ slit.
They grow scattered or in dense groups on rotting branches, logs and stumps of hardwood, throughout the year. They are a very common mushroom in North America.
Resources:
Beug, Michael, Alan E. Bessette & Arleen R Bessette. (2014) Ascomycete Fungi of North America: A Mushroom Reference Guide.
https://www.mycobank.org/page/Simple%20names%20search
https://www.botanicwise.com/presenter/giuliana-furci/
https://youtu.be/RKvIWlYy9Sc
Vandergrift, Roo. (2016) Xylaria: What, where, how? https://xylaria.net/2016/08/31/xylaria_what/
Beug, Michael, Alan E. Bessette & Arleen R Bessette. (2014) Ascomycete Fungi of North America: A Mushroom Reference Guide.
https://www.mycobank.org/page/Simple%20names%20search
https://www.botanicwise.com/presenter/giuliana-furci/
https://youtu.be/RKvIWlYy9Sc
Vandergrift, Roo. (2016) Xylaria: What, where, how? https://xylaria.net/2016/08/31/xylaria_what/