Alloclavaria purpurea

Description

Alloclavaria purpurea is easy to identify by its cylindrical shape, clustered growth, and purple, purple-brown, or purplish-gray coloration. The fruiting body is made of numerous slender cylindrical spindles that may grow to a height of 12 cm (4.7 in), with individual spindles being 2–6 mm thick. The color is faded in older specimens. The spore print is white. It is reportedly edible but insubstantial. Fruit bodies are found in spruce-fir forests.

Formerly known as Clavaria purpurea, Alloclavaria purpurea (Hymemocheatales) is phylogenetically distinct from Clavaria (Agaricales). Its relatives in the family Repetobasidiaceae include Contumyces, Cotylidia, Loreleia, and Rickenella.

Common names: Purple Club Coral.

Mushroom Identification

1. Ecology

   Traditionally presumed to be saprobic--but Dentinger & McLaughlin (2006) suggest the possibility that it is mycorrhizal or associated with mosses (and given its range, I wonder whether it might be associated with spruces); growing in tightly packed clusters under conifers, often in moss; summer and fall (also winter in warmer climates); widely distributed in northern, montane, and western North America.

2. Fruiting Body

   2.5-10 cm high; 2-6 mm wide; cylindrical to nearly spindle-shaped; unbranched; sometimes somewhat flattened, or with a groove or a twist; dry; soft; dull purple to purplish brown; paler at the extreme base; usually with a bluntly pointed tip.

3. Flesh

   Whitish to purplish; thin.

4. Chemical Reactions

   Iron salts are negative on surfaces.

5. Spore Print

   White.

6. Microscopic Features

   Spores 8.5-12 x 4-4.5 µ; ellipsoid; smooth. Basidia 4-sterigmate. Cystidia up to 130 x 10 µ; cylindric; thin-walled. Clamp connections absent.

Medicinal Properties

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: Ron Pastorino (Ronpast) (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 2 - Author: Daniel Winkler (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 3 - Author: Jerzy Opioła (CC BY-SA 2.5)

Photo 4 - Author: Murray Foubister (CC BY-SA 2.0)