Description

• Daldinia is a genus of wood-inhabiting fungi in the family Hypoxylaceae. Fruiting bodies form hard, rounded to irregular, charcoal-like structures that are typically black or dark brown and develop in clusters on dead or dying wood. Internally, they contain distinctive concentric zones of alternating dark and lighter tissue, while the outer surface becomes covered with small reproductive structures as the fungus matures.

Range

• Daldinia has a worldwide distribution, with species occurring particularly in tropical, subtropical, and temperate forest regions. The genus occurs in Mexico, including Guerrero and the Pacific coastal region, and Daldinia may be encountered around Zihuatanejo on suitable dead or decaying wood.

Habitat

• Species of Daldinia are primarily associated with dead or weakened branches, trunks, and logs of woody plants. They are common in forest and woodland habitats and may also occur on fallen timber in disturbed areas, gardens, and other places where dead wood remains exposed to moisture.