these (http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/610356374f8a8d22c208cdb0ab4b85c8e64af83.pjpg) are found under a beech tree, some type of fungi, they smell like mushrooms but have a solid black middle when cut open

They look like puffballs to me, being black though I would imagine it's poisonous. :gag:

Looks like you have puffballs there to me Hayley. They're white when they first appear, gradually turning the kind of colour you have there. When they're further the black inner will turn powdery and if you squeeze the outer they'll puff out of the hole on top (hence the name) rather like smoke.

They look like puffballs to me, being black though I would imagine it's poisonous. :gag:

When fresh, the insides are also white and reputedly good eating.

I'd be terrified to risk it unless I had a pro at my side! Didn't Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall find big 'uns?! I remember popping the puffy ones as a nipper and my mum telling me off!

I wouldn't like to eat them personally, but many thanks for solving the mystery :thumbsup:

They are earth balls

They are earth balls

And not edible.

http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/DisplayBlock~bid~6768.asp