King Alfred’s cakes
Have you ever been out in the woods and wondered what the black, rock-hard balls are that you find on decaying branches are, which are seemingly fixed with superglue? Well, if so, you’re in for a treat, as I will explain all about this curious fungus in this Species of the Month!
This golf-ball-shaped mushroom (2-10cm across) has many names, I know them as King Alfred’s cakes (Daldinia concentrica), but they are also known as coal fungus, carbon fungus and cramp balls to name but a few. They are a common sight in the UK in deciduous woodlands, in groups on dead and decaying wood, especially fallen beech and ash branches that don’t rot away quickly, but can remain on deadwood for years. They are matte, pinkish-brown when young, becoming black and shiny with a ‘burnt’ appearance as they age. The outer shell cracks easily and the older they get, the darker they become.
Inside, the flesh is hard, and a cross-section shows concentric zones of grey and black. Spores are released from the outer surface of the fungus through perithecia (small beak-like holes), leaving a black spore print, like a circle of coal dust, up to 3cm wide around the fungus.
These little spherical balls have many uses. Insects burrow inside the King Alfred’s cakes, while the caterpillars of the concealer moth (Harpella forficella) are known to feed on them. They are also useful to us humans too – not to be consumed as they are not edible, but they can keep you warm, if you know how! This species is also known as the tinder bracket and it has been said that it has been used for thousands of years as portable firelighting material.
They can catch a very weak spark when firelighting with flint and steel or an ember when using a bow drill, and when lit, they can be used to transport fire as they will smoulder for quite a while, depending on size, and another can be lit from the first one before it goes out. On a cold day when I was a young teenager, I was told by an ‘old boy’ (think Gerald from Clarkson’s Farm, but older, with no teeth) fellow beater that they make great little handwarmers, although care should always be taken as they burn quite hot, which I found out quite quickly – life lesson learnt there! Because of this, they can be used as charcoal briquettes to cook food and produce minimal smoke, which is handy if you don’t want to draw attention to yourself, which apparently is taught to the Special Forces.
Did you know?
King Alfred’s cakes are also known as ‘cramp balls’, as it was believed that carrying them would protect people from attacks of cramp.
Mythology and symbolism
If you have read Species of the Month regularly over the past three years, you will know I love a bit of folklore, fable and mythology, and this species delivers!
King Alfred lived in the 9th Century when parts of Britain had been overrun by Vikings, and as the story goes, while Alfred was trying to escape from the Vikings, he took refuge in the home of a peasant woman who asked him to watch over her cakes baking by the fire. According to legend, he accidentally let them burn, and was so embarrassed and ashamed that he scattered the cakes in the woods to get rid of the evidence. So that is where the name of these mushrooms come from, as the fungus looks like small, burnt cakes scattered in the woods, especially as they get older when they become black, and from then the name King Alfred’s cakes came into common use.
So, while you are out walking in the woods in this last part of the year, keep a look out for these little mushroom balls, and if you’re cold and careful, maybe you could try to make them into handwarmers!
Megan Lock
Advisory
Image credit: Josh Milburn