With time to do a little more searching, I find that it is in fact a fungus, Xylaria polymorpha, with the common name, "dead man's fingers." So appropriate! ... they looking like ancient mummy fingers. Apparently, it feeds on subterranean dead wood which makes sense here as there is a line of holly stumps from an old hedge in the vicinity. This means that it is entirely harmless to my landscaping purposes ... what I was concerned about, fearing any difficult weed infiltration or infestation. While it looks fungi-like, its hard woodiness made it seem nothing like any of the ordinary fungi that crop up in a typical yard. It has a pronounced mild, but strange scent. That, coupled with its appearance makes is seem like something that would be finely ground and put in a genuine witch's brew! Apparently, since it is black, I am catching it in its late stage. I read that in its earlier stage it can be some variation of bluish-greyish-green. In general, I comb the area where it is, looking for the tiniest of weeds, many times on hands and knees, so it has remained well hidden, apparently, for some length of time.

Good job with the research.
And thanks for letting us know what you learned.

De nada. :-)