Clavulina rugosa

Description

Clavulina rugose is a species of coral fungus in the family Clavulinaceae. It is edible.

This small club fungus often grows solitary or in scattered groups among the moss beside woodland footpaths. The club is flattened in a cross-section and has very few irregularly shaped branches. The branch tips are blunt rather than having pointed tips as other white clubs, such as Clavaria fragilis (White Spindles) do.

Clavulina rugosa can be distinguished by its creamy to pale grayish or ochraceous coloration, and thick, often rugose, branches with blunt tips.

Common names: Wrinkled Coral Fungus.

Mushroom Identification

1. Ecology

   Presumably mycorrhizal; found under conifers and hardwoods; growing alone, gregariously, or in clusters; summer and fall (overwinter in warm climates); widely distributed in North America.

2. Fruiting Body

   4-12 cm high; to 1.5 cm wide; unbranched or divided one to several times (often appearing antler-like).

3. Branches

   Rugged; white, sometimes developing yellowish tints with age; yellow when dried for the herbarium; tips colored like the sides, blunt or occasionally "cristate" with several sharp points; when parasitized becoming dark gray to black from the base upward.

4. Base

   Not separate from the upper portion of the fruiting body.

5. Flesh

   Whitish; fairly tough.

6. Odor and Taste

   Not distinctive.

7. Spore Print

   White.

8. Chemical Reactions

   Irons salts negative on branches.

9. Microscopic Features

   Spores 9-14 x 8-12 µ; subglobose or broadly elliptical; smooth; with an apiculus. Basidia clavate; 40-85 x 6-9.5 µ; 2-sterigmate with long (6-9 µ), incurved sterigmata. Clamp connections present.

10. Similar Species

    Clavulina cinerea is a grey, branching fungus that does not have the characteristic surface wrinkles of Clavulina rugosa.

History

The Wrinkled Club was described in 1790 by French mycologist Jean Baptiste Francois (Pierre) Bulliard, who gave it the binomial scientific name Clavaria rugosa. Nearly a century later, in 1888, German mycologist Joseph Schrötter (1837 - 1894) transferred this species to the genus Clavulina, thereby establishing its currently accepted scientific name Clavulina rugosa.

The many synonyms of Clavulina rugosa include Clavaria rugosa var. alcyonaria Corner, Clavaria rugosa Bull., Clavaria grossa Pers., Clavaria canaliculata Fr., Ramaria rugosa (Bull.) Gray, Clavaria rugosa var. fuliginea Fr., Clavaria macrospora Britzelm., Clavulina rugosa var. alcyonaria Corner, Clavulina rugosa var. canaliculata (Fr.) Corner, Clavulina rugosa var. fuliginea (Fr.) Corner, and Clavulina rugosa var. macrospora (Britzelm.) Corner.

The specific epithet rugosa means wrinkled or rough.

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: Strobilomyces (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Photo 2 - Author: Jörg Hempel (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 3 - Author: Walter Siegmund (talk) (CC BY-SA 3.0, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic)

Photo 4 - Author: Manfred Bromba (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 5 - Author: Jean-Jacques MILAN (CC BY-SA 3.0)