Black stains in wood, identifying the cause

Question

I found a used bedroom furniture set which includes a bed frame and box spring. I've put together the bed frame but upon looking at the box springs more closely, I see there are some dark stains around the edges.

How can I determine whether this is mold or a wood destroying organism, or something else?
I also noticed that looks similar to signs of dry rot, but I'm not sure.

J. M. Becker · Accepted Answer

It appears like mold, I found a link that goes over some simple ways to test if something is mold.
https://www.familyhandyman.com/list/how-to-test-for-mold/
I personally would check if the wood is soft, if the wood has an earthy smell... like the smell of dirt and decomposing leaves, both strongly indicate mold.

Black stains in wood, identifying the cause

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