Fruiting bodies of Candlesnuff fungus, the Ascomycete Xylaria hypoxylon, growing on a rotting fallen branch of common beech, Fagus sylvatica, photographed in early winter. The picture shows the developing, here unbranched, fruiting bodies (ascocarps), covered at their tips with a white powdery layer consisting of conidia. Later in the season, the conidial layer is replaced by black perithecia (producing ascospores ). At this stage, the fungus is known as Dead man's fingers.X. hypoxylon is a widespread and common fungus of rotting detached branches of deciduous trees. The fruiting bodis - here simple - may produce branches, leading to a further common name, Stagshorn fungus