Regan Daniels of North Carolina uploaded a couple of photographs of a fungus that looked like a dead man’s toes to the Facebook group Mushroomcore, and it’s easy to see why.
Naturally, several individuals yelled ‘fake,’ but Daniels reassured them that this was not the case. And, well, looking at the shrooms from a different angle, which shows them rising upwards, we can confidently say she shouldn’t be dismissed.
Even if they were good, Dead Man’s Fingers (Xylaria polymorpha) mushrooms are rather widespread in the United Kingdom and Ireland.Throughout mainland Europe and much of North America.
They grow all year at the base of tree stumps, especially beech wood, but also on other buried hardwoods. The fruiting body of the mushroom commonly appears in tufts of three to six ‘fingers’ that are often twisted, giving the appearance of arthritic black knuckles.
Daniels noticed the fungus growing from a stump among other mushrooms. The fungus isn’t normally considered edible, which could explain why it survived in such a popular location.
There is, of course, another reason. Would you ever eat the toes of a dead man?
Take a look at these pictures below.
