Carbon Balls
This Ascomycete fungus has become much more common since the appearance of sudden oak death syndrome caused by the invasive fungus Phytopthora ramorum which quickly kills tanoaks and coast live oaks and to a lesser extent other oak species. It is an endophyte that lives inside its host without doing damage, but with the death of the host it quickly fruits, producing 1-5 inch broad and up to 3cm tall ovoid or rounded fruit bodies bearing pimples. These pimples are the spore-producing perithecia. The similar and rare in this area Daldinia grandis also forms ball-shaped fruit bodies, but with a smooth surface and strong concentrically layered context. A. thouarsianum produces black spores, with woody context. It is often found in abundance on recently fallen trees. There is no odor.