Lifecycle of a cramp ball fungus

[Suffolkrafter]

Hi all.
I've been keeping an eye on a handful of crampballs (Daldinia concentrica) growing in some urban woodland near my home. I discovered them last December.
Some are black and crumble under light pressure; the remainder are brown and vary in size from small to fairly big. There are no mature ones ripe for picking as far as I can see.
It got me thinking about the lifecycle of this fungus, of which there seems to be little information online.
My understanding is that brown = immature and therefore presumably young. During this phase the fungus releases conidiospores. At some point maturity is reached and the fungus releases ascospores. I don't pretend to understand the difference between the two types of spore.
My question is, how long does the immature stage last for, and does all growth occur in this phase? How long does the mature stage last - until they finally become crumbly? And is any of this tied to seasons as with other fungi (and therefore predictable), or can the phases occur at any point in the year?

 

[forrestdweller]

slightly but i only learned about their use after discovering this forum and long time after leaving europe. to my surprise i discovered a related species here in central america -- it seems to grow on different types of trees incl.dead citrus... i've to keep them under observation once discovered: harvested too early they turn "mushy", wait too long and bugs get them first... during the correct time they're great for magnifying glass fire starting...

 

[Robson Valley]

A "conidium" and an "ascus" are two different sorts of spore-forming structures in fungi.
I'm surprised to read that one species can do both.

At Uni, we used a Mycology text by Alexopolous. Very popular among schools.
abeBooks.com probably has dozens of used copies for pennies on the dollar.
Theoretically, I have saved my copy but only paleontology will find it.

 

[Edtwozeronine]

Is this those black blobs on dead or dying trees?

 

[Suffolkrafter]

Is this those black blobs on dead or dying trees?

That's as good a description as any other

 

[spandit]

They look like conkers albeit dark black.

 

[Nice65]

They look like conkers albeit dark black.

Dark black being quite a different shade from bright black of course.

Sorry, coining a phrase from a friend years ago about the new car.

We’re surrounded by, or were, Ash trees. The King Alfreds Cakes grow everywhere and are available year round. I dare say they slow or stop during cold weather, and the brown ones are immature. The mature black ones easily release a pocketful of black spores if pocketed and forgotten, but not always. I just chucked a handful out of the back of the car that have been there ages and no sooty spores at all, just smooth and black.

That doesn’t answer your question, but as with all growth cycles, they vary according to conditions.

 

[Suffolkrafter]

They are few and far between in my neck or the woods, or at least I don't come across many. I will leave the ones I've found alone and keep an eye on the smaller ones periodically to see how they progress. There's something strangely satisfying in getting involved in the detail of things.

 

[Edtwozeronine]

Often the ones I see are easily pulled off the tree and so dried out that that you can break them in half like a brittle meringue but on occasion they're also rubbery and almost impossible to remove without some sort of tool.

What are they used for anyway, can you crumble them up and snort them or make a face mask?

 

[Nice65]

What are they used for anyway, can you crumble them up and snort them or make a face mask?

You should definitely try that, with full story and pics.

When mature and dry they take a spark and can be blown to a decent and very long lasting ember. Even, with appropriate care, transported from place to place while alight, though it’s not something I’d do.