King Alfred's Cakes

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Sep 21, 2008
729
0
55
Dartmoor
Can anyine help me find them please. I understand they like dead ash, but I have never found any to date. I found what I thought was them but the fungi went all 'jelly like' :(

Pictures of typical environment would be great.
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,709
1,947
Mercia
They don't need much drying and can be lit straight from the tree. They do leak spores like crazy so dry in a paper bag. You can find them at all times of year
 

Geoff Dann

Native
Sep 15, 2010
1,252
31
55
Sussex
www.geoffdann.co.uk
but the fungi went all 'jelly like' :(

Probably Black Bulgar.

You're the second person I've seen posting on this board about difficulty finding King Alfred's Cakes. It seems strange to me, because I see this species pretty much every time I go out looking for fungi. I guess it must be unevenly distributed in the UK.
 

wattsy

Native
Dec 10, 2009
1,111
3
Lincoln
Also when you do find some cut them in half there's a type of weevil that spends its larval stage in them eating them which makes a hell of a mess if you don't get rid of them
 

slowworm

Full Member
May 8, 2008
1,982
934
Devon
In my experience there does seem to be less down here in Devon than places like Kent and Surrey. They are about though, not just on dead ash but on the lower dead branches of living, large ash trees.
 
Sep 21, 2008
729
0
55
Dartmoor
In my experience there does seem to be less down here in Devon than places like Kent and Surrey. They are about though, not just on dead ash but on the lower dead branches of living, large ash trees.

Hmmmm I wonder if is a Dartmoor climate thing???? Bracket fungi, yes... cramp balls, no. :(
 

Bushwhacker

Banned
Jun 26, 2008
3,882
8
Dorset
Also when you do find some cut them in half there's a type of weevil that spends its larval stage in them eating them which makes a hell of a mess if you don't get rid of them

That particular weevil (if it's the one I'm thinking of) is pretty rare - Platyrhinus resinosus.
 

Ogri the trog

Mod
Mod
Apr 29, 2005
7,182
71
60
Mid Wales UK
In my experience there does seem to be less down here in Devon than places like Kent and Surrey. They are about though, not just on dead ash but on the lower dead branches of living, large ash trees.
I think "Diseased" Ash rather then "dead"....

Hmmmm I wonder if is a Dartmoor climate thing???? Bracket fungi, yes... cramp balls, no. :(
Same here in Mid Wales - very few usable fungi, but plenty of toxic examples - I have to wait till I visit my folks in south Wales to collect Cramp Balls

ATB

Ogri the trog
 

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