Names, authorship and dates from Index Fungorum.

• AscomycotaPhylum
• └─ SordariomycetesClass
• └─ XylarialesOrder
• └─ DiatrypaceaeFamily
• └─ DiatrypeGenus

Higher ranks from Catalogue of Life (COL26.9 XR).

not recorded

Dead branches and trunks of beech, rarely other hardwoods

⚠ Before you pickWild fungi may be taken in small quantities for your own use (§39(3) BNatSchG) — but not in nature reserves or national parks, on closed land or on farmland in use, and never for sale (§39(4)). In Bavaria this right is anchored in Art. 141(3) of the state constitution and is limited to locally customary amounts; the competent authority is the district nature-conservation authority (untere Naturschutzbehörde). Local signs and ordinances come first.

Species protection from BArtSchV Annex 1 and §2(1), retrieved 2026-10-15; Red List from Dämmrich et al. (2016) (BfN / Rote-Liste-Zentrum). Not legal advice — local rules and signage may be stricter. BArtSchV Annex 1 · Red List data

not recorded

Inedible — hard, woody crust

• ▸ Small, cushion-shaped to flattened, black crust fruit bodies in bark cracks
• ▸ Angular outline, bursting through the bark
• ▸ Often arranged in rows following the bark fissures
• ▸ Tiny spore chambers (perithecia) opening through minute raised pores

A very common bark fungus of beech that looks like small black cushions and is easy to overlook.