Synonyme: Clavaria hypoxylon; Sphaeria hypoxylon; Xylosphaera hypoxylon.
English: Candlestick fungus; Candlesnuff fungus; Carbon antlers; Stag's horn fungus.
German: Geweihförmige Holzkeule.
Region: Europe.
Content: xylarial A and xylarial B are moderate cytotoxic against the human hepatocellular carcinoma; xylarone and 8,9-dehydroxylarone also have cytotoxic activity; cytochalasins, compounds that bind to actin in muscle tissue, have been found in the fungus; acarbohydrate-binding protein, a lectin, with a unique sugar specificity, and which has potent anti-tumor effects in various tumor cell lines.
MycologyXylaria hypoxylon are erect, elongated black branches with whitened tips, growing in clusters on decaying hardwood. The fungus can cause a root rot in hawthorn and gooseberry plants. The fruit bodies are cylindrical or flattened, ± 5 cm, ± 5 mm thick, often twisted or bent, sparsely branched, resembling a stag's antlers. Specimens may be covered completely in asexual spores, a white to grayish powdery deposit. Mature ascocarps are charcoal-black, and have minute pimple-like bumps called perithecia on the surface. These are minute rounded spore bearing structures with tiny holes, or ostioles, for the release of sexual spores. The perithecia are embedded in the flesh of the ascocarp, the stroma, which is tough, elastic, and white.