Imagine walking in the woods when suddenly you spot what looks like a hand clawing out of the earth.
“Oh god. That’s a body.” But it’s not. You’ve just stumbled upon Xylaria polymorpha — more famously known as Dead Man’s Fingers.
This eerie fungus looks like “real fingers, gnarled and black,” emerging from the ground, especially around rotting hardwood stumps.
“They grow in dead hardwoods, generally stumps or roots, then sit there doing their thing.” Dead Man’s Fingers are saprophytes, meaning they feed on dead material and help recycle it — not on living trees. Read more below
