Image of King Alfred's Cakes

Description:

Slo.: slojevita oglarka - syn.: Daldinia intermedia (Lloyd) Child, Hypoxylon concentricum (Bolton) Grev., Valsa tuberosa Scop., Sphaeria tuberosa (Scop.) Timm - Habitat: wood edge, hop hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia) dominant tree; not far from river bank; almost flat terrain; calcareous, alluvial ground; half shade, relatively warm place; exposed to direct rain; average precipitations 2.000-2.600 mm/year, average temperature 10-12 deg C, elevation 185 m (600 feet), borderline between alpine and sub-mediterranean phytogeographical region. - Substratum: fallen, dead and partly disintegrated thick branch of broadleaved tree, most probably Fagus sylvatica, possibly Acer spp. - Comments: Daldinia concentrica is a quite common ascomycete, also in Slovenia. Its 'balls' are reddish or rusty-brown at first becoming black and shiny resembling charcoal. Flesh is conspicuously concentrically zoned when cut vertically. One can find it mostly on Fagus sylvatica but also on other broadleaved trees. There appears little possibility to misidentify it in Slovenia since all other species of the genus Daldinia are very rare. - English vernacular name King Alfred's Cakes is based on the following legend. King Alfred was hiding in a country home during war time. Unaware of his identity, the mistress of the house put him in charge of watching the baking of the cakes in the oven. King fell asleep and the cakes burned. Daldinia concentrica apparently resembles these cakes. - Growing gregariously in several groups all along the fallen branch. Tens of fruit bodies present. - Ref.: (1) G. Medardi, Atlante fotografico degli Ascomiceti d'Italia, A.M.B. Centro Studi Micologici (2012) (in Italian with English keys), p 321. (2) M.W.Beug, A.E. Bessette, A.R. Bessette, Ascomycete Fungi of North America, University of Texas Press, Austin (2014), p 293. (3) R. Phillips, Mushrooms, Macmillan (2006), p 375. (4) J. Breitenbach, F. Kraenzlin, Eds., Fungi of Switzerland, Vol.1. Verlag Mykologia (1984), p 274.