If the dark surface of the wood smudges it could be mold.
Dark plywood in attic.
The following picture is of a long standing moisture condition in an attic where much of the roof sheathing has turned black.
Below is an image of heavy 3 dimensional mold growth on the sheathing.
If the wood is soft if it s easily imprinted when you push on it it s probably rotten.
If your attic joists won t bear the weight necessary to finish out a living space but the engineer cleared them to support floor decking for light storage you can install inch plywood or.
After several years of this there may be.
The dark discoloration will remain long after the mold has stopped growing.
Mold spores penetrate the plywood in your attic and it is difficult to completely eradicate it.
The other two possibilities for the stains.
When moisture condenses on plywood roof sheathing repeatedly or continuously the wood will turn black.
This latter phenomenon occurs when the house is too humid and the warm moist air seeps into the attic where it condenses and freezes on cold attic areas.
In this photo of very dark mold in an attic in a wet attic mold which we found to be brown in the microscope looked black on the plywood.
Black mold in attics.
While the plywood.
The black attic mold shown here confirms that this attic had a serious venting and moisture problem including moisture from sources lower in the building.
This can be caused by the action of fungal growth and molds and the affect they have on the tannins in the wood.
Beneath the fuzzy growth areas of staining can be observed as well.
In old houses you ll usually see some spots that are stained dark or black where there was a roof leak at some point in time which was repaired but the stain remains.