FoQ – Daldinia concentrica

Daldinia concentrica (© Ray Baxter)

Fruiting body:	cushion like to hemispherical; 50 × 40 × 30 mm; hard, smooth; a rich vinaceous brown (10E6).
Stipe:	not stipitate, broadly and firmly attached to substrate.
Flesh:	hard, becoming brittle when old; revealing a number of concentric rings when cut vertically, normally alternating between thicker black rings and finer white ones.
Spores:	spore print black; ellipsoid, but somewhat flattened on one side; 14.5 – 17.5 × 6.5 – 8.5; not striate.
Asci:	each contain 8 spores and they are held in tube like structures just below the surface.
Habitat:	growing on large fallen logs of an unknown species in Araucaria forest.
Notes:	the vinaceous brown or black hemispherical to cushion-like fruit bodies attached to branches, which have concentric rings when split vertically allow Daldinia to be recognised in the field. D. concentrica has smooth spores, D. eschscholzii striate spores. Spore prints can usually be obtained by placing the fruitbody on a slide and covering with a glass. Examination of sections is more difficult because of the hard nature of the surface.
Collections examined:	QMS P32, Paradise Falls Track, Bunya Mountains National Park, Patrick Leonard, 29 March 2009.

P. Leonard 14 April 2012