Xylaria hypoxylon    (L.) Grev. 

common name(s) : Candlesnuff Fungus, Stag's Horn, Candle Snuff 

New classification: Ascomycota/Pezizomycotina/Sordariomycetes/Xylariomycetidae/Xylariales/Xylariaceae  
Former classification: Ascomycota/Hymenoascomycetes/Pyrenomycetideae/Xylariales/Xylariaceae  
(unconfirmed synonyms: Xylosphaeria hypoxylon)  

edibility : inedible

photo gallery of Xylaria hypoxylon
photo gallery of Xylaria hypoxylon potential confusions with Xylaria hypoxylon toxicity of Xylaria hypoxylon genus Xylaria  

The fruiting body is shaped like a antler-like branched shrub, with flattened and pointy tips, black towards base, the top being covered with a white dust (all black in spring when maturing), without stem.

The flesh is white, tough; its taste is not distinctive; the odour is not distinctive.

The fertile surface is smooth.

It grows on wood, in broad-leaved and coniferous woods, on tree trunks or stumps.

The fruiting period takes place all year long.
Dimensions: width of fruiting body approximately 0.4 cm (between 0.2 and 0.5 cm)
  total height approximately 5 cm (between 1 and 8 cm)

Distinctive features : antler-shaped fruiting body, black but powdery-white at the tips; not very branched; on dead deciduous wood

Xylaria hypoxylon is occasional and widely present in the forest of Rambouillet, and is very frequent, more generally speaking .
here should be the distribution map of Xylaria hypoxylon in the forest of Rambouillet
Above : distribution map of Xylaria hypoxylon in the forest of Rambouillet



page updated on 14/01/18