Cramp ball fungus

[Wookey]

Can anyone help, I've been searching for this fungus in and around Cumbria but with no success. I was shown some on a course a couple of years ago but never found any. I think they grow on dead ash trees.

 

[sodajoe]

I have found cramp balls on dead standing birch trees.

 

[elma]

I've got a picture of some in the gallery
what I would like to know is how do you prepare them for use

Ian

 

[Ogri the trog]

...what I would like to know is how do you prepare them for use

Ian

Hi Ian,
The way I prepare Crampball is to dry it, I find doing it gently allows it to stay whole for ease of carrying.
When you want to use some, just break a piece off - the more confident you get - the less you'll use. For a fungus about the size of a golf ball, into three or four bits as a beginner, or 6 - 8 or more when you're proficient.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Daniel]

I've collected and used many of these lovely things. I find them mostly on dead beech trees, but they can also be found on dead ash.

The important thing in preparing is getting them dry. I sit them on the radiator for a few days to a week, daily cleaning off the spore that they leave behind when they are drying. I then store them in a brown paper bag in the airing cupboard until I need them.

 

[maverix]

ive just found an old birch covered in the stuff, could pick one off for you next time i walk the dogs that way.

 

[Grooveski]

I gathered some from the burnt heartwood of a vandalised Oak at the last scottish meet.
Must admit I'd never heard of it before and was meaning to split it up back at the meet but forgot. Came across a pocketful the next day thinking "what on earth....?"

Dried it on a sheet of paper on top of my monitor and shook off the spores by accidently knocking it over once.

 

[match]

Yep - they're quite common inside burnt out tree stumps - have a close look and see if you can see them - they look like small raised black bumps inside the wood, but exactly the same black colour as the surrounding charred surface.

 

[rich59]

I recently found some on a dead standing cherry tree.

 

[Pappa]

I had an experiment recently, lighting various charred items with a flint and steel. Cramp balls that had been previously charred were really easy to light, as easy as charcloth. They provide quite a large area for sparks to land and the sparks 'catch' quickly. The only downside was that they are a little cumbersome to hold in the same hand as a piece of flint, although once I worked out a good technique, it wasn't really a problem.

Pappa

 

[Ranger Bob]

eh?? double posted..sorry

 

[Ranger Bob]

I had an experiment recently, lighting various charred items with a flint and steel. Cramp balls that had been previously charred were really easy to light, as easy as charcloth. They provide quite a large area for sparks to land and the sparks 'catch' quickly. The only downside was that they are a little cumbersome to hold in the same hand as a piece of flint, although once I worked out a good technique, it wasn't really a problem.

Pappa

You could lay the cramp ball down and strike the flint downwards against the steel to send the sparks downwards....that way you don't need to hold the fungus in an awkward manner This is the european method of striking sparks.

 

[Pappa]

Thanks, I hadn't thought of that. I suppose I was just stuck in my technique.

By the way, extinguishing cramp ball fungus can be a bit tricky. If it's just a small area burning you can put it out with a finger, but if the whole mass is alight, I found it best to seal it in a jam jar for a few minutes. This also has the advantage of keeping the surface 'fluffy' and fissured, which seems to be much better for catching sparks.

I tried the same experiment with charred razor-strop fungus and charred wild clematis bark. Although I did catch a spark with the razor-strop fungus, both items were far more difficult. I think this was because when they burn, the burning portion turns to ash much more quickly, leaving very little charred material, just a flat black surface which is very shallow (with uncharred material close underneath). The cramp ball fungus keeps it's shape and structure quite well after it has been partially burned, a lot like charcoal.

I suspect all the items would work well if they were charred properly like charcoal or charcloth, but I was looking for something that required little more perperation than being briefly burned and extinguished. (Otherwise I might as well just use charcoal or charcloth).

Pappa

 

[Nigel]

Can anyone help, I've been searching for this fungus in and around Cumbria but with no success. I was shown some on a course a couple of years ago but never found any. I think they grow on dead ash trees.

Hi Wookey,

If you need a couple to play around with until you get some I could send you a few. Just pm me.

ATB
Nigel

 

[Pablo]

Seemes to be quite a lot down my way in Essex. Smoulders very well, but I've never succesfully got one alight from sparks yet.

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=471&cat=504

Pablo

 

[Wookey]

Thanks for all the help. Just returned from Kent where I found a whole woodland of them on fallen ash. Still not found any in Cumbria.

 

[Tonylee153]

You will find these on ash tree mostly.
On the dead limb normally storm or pruning wounds.
Little round black lumps with circles on the inside.
Hence the latin Daeldinia concentrica

 

[Scally]

i find them in the midlands usually on branches that are horizontal and underneath.

 

[Mantic]

Not that it helps, but the wood near me is full of the stuff. I s'pose I could post you a ball, if you can't find any.

 

[sabre iom]

Wonder if it has anything to do with your location, they are quite hard to find here on the Island too, I wondered if its the climate difference in the north? Or are they found as far up as Scotland?, i was in east sussex a fortnight ago and they were everywhere.