Buns and butter

A snack from the dark side!
On the left, King Alfred's cakes, Daldinia concentrica, a common, charcoal-like fungus that takes the form of hard lumps on diseased ash trees. The name comes from the apocryphal story that the 9th century Saxon king, wandering the countryside after a battle against the Danes, sought shelter in a peasant's hut. As he settled down to rest by the hearth the woman of the house hovel asked him to keep an eye on her cakes while she went to fetch some more firewood. Lacking all culinary skills Alfred's attention wandered and when the wife returned the buns were burnt and black and she furiously scolded the incognito king.

On the right, Witches' Butter, Exidia glandulosa, another of the jelly fungi that flourish in this cool wet seas0n. Finding this dusky goo adhering to dead wood is a sure sign that witches have been picnicking close by - buttering their buns.