Dead Man's Fingers Marcy Woods

Marcy Woods - Dead Man’s Fingers - E. Plato

Next to the Marcy cabin a few years ago the late naturalist Bob Chambers and I found in a woodpile the fungus, Dead Man’s Fingers. Bob snapped the photo. I was told that this odd mushroom dons a variety of costumes in its long life span. Named Xylaria Polymorpha by Bob. We found it at Marcy’s Woods late summer. We had been on a fungi hunt. Bob discovered the mushroom growing between logs, It was entirely black and grossly looked like a dead man’s fingers! Indeed it looked like a creepy set of “dead man’s fingers.” It has been said that it could be mistaken for something left by a feral cat. I touched the fungus. The black growths were dried out. My reference books say nothing about its edibility even when young and tender. Don’t take a chance.