Chapter 9: Curating xylaria

Wood is perhaps the quintessential material used in most human cultures. In prehistoric times, it was employed, either directly or indirectly, to provide most human needs: warmth, shelter, and nearly all manner of tools suitable for procuring food, water and security (Beeckman, 2003). In modern times it continues to play important roles in human cultures (Radkau, 2012). Despite its ubiquity as a technological material, it is often a surprise to the general public, and even to other biologists, that xylaria, or collections of wood specimans, exist.