28 February 2009 West Sussex. Photograph copyright Leif Goodwin. Fruiting Body Sub-spherical, surface finely roughened, pink when young, then reddish brown, and finally black, to about 1 cm across Flesh Hard, black Smell Indistinct Taste Indistinct Season All year Distribution Very common Habitat On dead wood from beech trees Spore Print Dark brown Microscopic Features Ascospores ellipsoidal to crescent shaped, smooth (11-15) x (5-7) µm2 Edibility Inedible Notes Take care not to confuse with H. howeianum which is distinguished by smaller spores |