| Ramaria fennica | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Gomphales |
| Family: | Gomphaceae |
| Genus: | Ramaria |
| Species: | R. fennica |
| Binomial name | |
| Ramaria fennica | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
Clavaria fennicaP.Karst. (1868) | |
Ramaria fennica, commonly known as the bitter coral, is a coral mushroom in the family Gomphaceae. It is found in Australia, Europe and North America.
Petter Karsten first described the species in 1868 under the name Clavaria fennica, based on collections made in Finnish fir woods. [2] Adalbert Ricken transferred it to the genus Ramaria in 1920. [3]
The specific epithet fennica refers to Finland, where the original collections were made. It is commonly known as the "bitter coral". [4]
The fruit body consist of numerous branches that arise from usually two to four large primary upright branches, which themselves originate from a single thick, fleshy base; the overall dimensions of the fruit body are 6–18 cm (2.4–7.1 in) tall by 5–12 cm (2.0–4.7 in) wide. Unlike many larger Ramarias, R. fennica fruits bodies are usually taller than they are wide. The surface of the branches is smooth, and they can range in color from olive-grey to olive-umber to smokey-yellow, grayish-tan, or yellow brown. The primary branches are darker–olive-brown tinged with violet in young specimens. The thick and fleshy stalk is white below, with color becoming the same as the branch color in the upper part of the stem. The flesh is white, firm, and brittle. [4]
Ramaria fennica produces a pale yellowish-tan spore print. Spores are elliptical, covered with tiny spines, and measure 5.5–8 by 3–4.5 μm. [4]
The edibility of the coral is not known with certainty, but its sometimes bitter taste and thin flesh make it unappealing. [4]
Ramaria fumiosiavellanea is similar in coloration, but has a much reduced stem. [4]
Fruit bodies grow on the ground singly, scattered, or in groups, often with tanoak (in North America). A generally uncommon species, it sometimes fruits prolifically. [4] It is also known from Europe and Australia. [5]
Hypomyces is a genus of parasitic ascomycete fungi found in Europe, North America, Australia, and parts of China. The genus contains 53 species. Better known species include the lobster mushroom and the bolete eater.
Ramaria formosa, commonly known as the salmon coral, beautiful clavaria, handsome clavaria, yellow-tipped- or pink coral fungus, is a coral fungus found in Europe. It is widely held to be mildly poisonous if consumed, giving rise to acute gastrointestinal symptoms of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and colicky pain. It is a pinkish, much-branched coral-shape reaching some 20 cm (8 in) high. Similar forms collected in North America are now considered to represent a different species than the European Ramaria formosa.
Clavulina cristata, commonly known as the white coral fungus or the crested coral fungus, is a white- or light-colored edible coral mushroom present in temperate areas of the Americas and Europe. It is the type species of the genus Clavulina.
Verpa conica, commonly known as the bell morel or the early morel, is a species of fungus in the family Morchellaceae. Sometimes mistaken for a true morel, this species is an “early morel” characterized by a cap resembling a thimble that is freely attached to the stem.
Hebeloma sinapizans, commonly known as the scaly-stalked heboloma, rough-stalked hebeloma or the bitter poisonpie, is a species of mushroom in the family Hymenogastraceae. It has a strong radish-like smell, and a prominent bulbous stem base. It is larger than the similar and more common H. crustuliniforme, a relative that is also poisonous. H. sinapizans is found in Europe and North America.
Ramariopsis kunzei is an edible species of coral fungi in the family Clavariaceae, and the type species of the genus Ramariopsis. It is commonly known as white coral because of the branched structure of the fruit bodies that resemble marine coral. The fruit bodies are up to 5 cm (2.0 in) tall by 4 cm (1.6 in) wide, with numerous branches originating from a short rudimentary stem. The branches are one to two millimeters thick, smooth, and white, sometimes with yellowish tips in age. Ramariopsis kunzei has a widespread distribution, and is found in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Ramaria botrytis, commonly known as the clustered coral, the pink-tipped coral mushroom, or the cauliflower coral, is an edible species of coral fungus in the family Gomphaceae. Its robust fruit body can grow up to 15 cm (6 in) in diameter and 20 cm (8 in) tall, and resembles some marine coral. Its dense branches, which originate from a stout, massive base, are swollen at the tips and divided into several small branchlets. The branches are initially whitish but age to buff or tan, with tips that are pink to reddish. The flesh is thick and white. The spores, yellowish in deposit, are ellipsoid, feature longitudinal striations, and measure about 13.8 by 4.7 micrometers.
Caloboletus rubripes, commonly known as the red-stipe bolete or the red-stemmed bitter bolete, is a mushroom in the family Boletaceae. It was known as Boletus rubripes until 2014. Fruit bodies (mushrooms) are robust, with caps up to 18 cm in diameter, atop thick stipes 5–12 cm long. Mushrooms are non-toxic, but is so bitter as to be inedible. The mushroom flesh has a very strong bluing reaction when cut or damaged. and forms mycorrhizal relationships, primarily with conifers. It can be differentiated from similar boletes by its cap color and non-reticulate stipe.
Cortinarius infractus, commonly known as the sooty-olive Cortinarius or the bitter webcap, is an inedible basidiomycete mushroom of the genus Cortinarius. The fungus produces sooty-olive fruit bodies with sticky caps measuring up to 13 cm (5.1 in) in diameter. The fruit bodies contains alkaloids that inhibit the enzyme acetylcholinesterase.
Thelephora palmata is a species of clavarioid fungus in the family Thelephoraceae. The fruit bodies are leathery and coral-like, with branches that are narrow at the base before widening out like a fan and splitting into numerous flattened prongs. The wedge-like tips are whitish when young, but darken as the fungus matures. The common names of the fungus refers to its pungent odor, likened to fetid garlic. A widely distributed but uncommon species, it is found in Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America, where it fruits on the ground in both coniferous and mixed forest.
Ramaria acrisiccescens, commonly known as the blah coral, is a coral fungus in the family Gomphaceae. It is found in the forests of northwestern North America.
Phaeoclavulina abietina, commonly known as the green-staining coral, is a coral mushroom in the family Gomphaceae. It is characterized by the green staining reaction it develops in response to bruising or injury.
Ramaria stricta, commonly known as the strict-branch coral is a coral fungus of the genus Ramaria. It has a cosmopolitan distribution, and grows on dead wood, stumps, trunks, and branches of both deciduous and coniferous trees. Its fruit body is up to 10 cm tall, made of multiple slender, compact, and vertical parallel branches. Its color is typically light tan to vinaceous-brown. All parts of the mushroom will bruise when handled. There are several lookalike corals that can usually be distinguished from R. stricta by differences in coloration, bruising reaction, or microscopic features. The fungus is inedible due to its unpleasant odor and bitter taste.
Tremellodendropsis tuberosa, commonly known as the ashen coral, is a species of coral fungus in the family Tremellodendropsidaceae found in Europe, North America, South America, and Asia.
Ramaria rasilispora, commonly known as the yellow coral, is a coral mushroom in the family Gomphaceae. Described as new to science in 1974, it is found in western North America south to Mexico, and in the eastern Himalaya.
Ramaria araiospora, commonly known as the red coral, is a coral mushroom in the family Gomphaceae. First described in 1974, it is found in North America, and the Himalaya. An edible species, it is sold in local markets in Mexico.
Ramaria rubripermanens is a species of coral fungus in the family Gomphaceae. Described as new to science in 1973, it is found in the western United States and Mexico. Its fruit bodies, which resemble sea coral, grow up to 16 cm (6.3 in) tall and feature whitish to light yellow branches with pinkish to reddish tips. It is edible.
Ramaria magnipes is a coral fungus in the family Gomphaceae. It is found in western North America, where it fruits on the ground in mixed forests.
Ramaria gracilis is a species of coral fungus in the family Gomphaceae.
Ramaria myceliosa is a species of coral fungus in the family Gomphaceae. Found in North America, it was originally described by Charles Horton Peck in 1904 with the name Clavaria myceliosa. The type was collected by botanist Edwin Bingham Copeland in the mountains near Stanford University in California. E.J.H. Corner transferred it to the genus Ramaria in 1950. Giachini and colleagues proposed that Ramaria myceliosa is the same species as the European Phaeoclavulina curta, but did not provide molecular evidence to support their suggested synonymy. In a recent (2014) publication on California fungi, the authors propose the transfer of Ramaria myceliosa to the genus Phaeoclavulina, but as of January 2016, this transfer has not been accepted by either MycoBank or Index Fungorum.