Dead Man's Fingers - Xylaria polymorpha
Dead man's fingers are one of the strangest mushrooms you can find when hunting for fungus. The examples here are all from my backyard, and are feasting on the root system of an ice storm damaged Birch tree.
As you can see, they gain their name from both their hue, and the means by which they seem to reach out from the dirt. They love dead wood, and make quick meals of things like my poor Birch.
They change color over time, from a blueish to black and eventually dry out. The white tips are the areas that produce spores. The flesh is very hard and bright white under the dark skin.
They are more abundant in early spring and summer and by the end of summer you may mistake them for scat or broken twigs. Watch for them on or around thinking stumps and from poking out of the ground on the soft root systems of decaying trees.
I love to go mushroom hunting and I love to see what other people find so please comment and if you follow me and you're a mushroom hunter or if you follow me and you're not, I'll be happy to follow you back!
I've never actually seen this mushroom in person but it's always grossed me out even in pictures.
I'm going around searching for mushroom related posts to identify mushrooms people find - but you seem very knowledgeable. So in this case I'll just upvote and leave my blog intro here for you to peruse.
The Mushroomer
Yes they are a little freaky when you come across them! I've been an amateur mycologist for several years and just love hunting for fungus. It's been so dry here that it's been a slow season. I'm doing much the same as you, thanks for the upvote and the follow! I've returned the favor 😊