Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Specimen #1 Coral Fungus

Figure 1: Clavulinopsis fusiformis at Chagrin Reservation


Name: Clavulinopsis fusiformis; Golden Fairy Club
Family: Clavariaceae
Collection Date: September 12, 2011
Habitat: Shaded woods on damp, mossy ground
Location: South Chagrin Reservation
Description: Bright yellow, unbranched coral fungus, somewhat tall (over 5 cm).  Lost color and size as it dried out, becoming pale and thin.
Collector: Taylor Summerfield


Key used: Arora, David, 1986. Mushrooms Demystified, 2nd Edition, Ten Speed Press, New York, New York.


Key Steps: Key to the Major Groups of Fleshy Fungi
1. Spores produced on mother cells called basidia; fruiting body variously shaped (see pp.52-54)
...p.53; Fruiting body erect, unbranched (clublike) or profusely branched from a common base or "trunk" (coral-like); cap absent; spores borne on the smooth to slightly wrinkled surfaces of the upright clubs or branches...Coral and Club Fungi, p. 630


Key Steps:Coral and Club Fungi, p630
1. Fruiting body unbranched or very sparsely branched (but often tufted or clustered)...2
2. May be white, but if so not powdery; spores borne on basidia...3
3. Fruiting body typically fragile or if tough then much smaller; mostly less than 7mm thick; apex acute or blunt or occasionally enlarged...Clavaria and Allies, p.634


Key to Clavaria and Allies p634:
1. Not growing on algae...2
2. Fresh fruiting body yellow to orange, red, salmon, or pink...3
3. Fresh fruiting body yellow to orange...4
4. Fruiting body unbranched or occasionally forked (but often clustered)...6
6. Fruiting body typically clublike to spindle-shaped or fingerlike or rarely forked; usually rather fragile; spores borne on basidia...7
7. Fruiting bodies 5-15cm tall, usually growing in bundles or large clusters...Clavulinopsis fusiformis

Links:
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/clavulinopsis_fusiformis.html
http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/DisplayBlock~bid~5768.asp
http://americanmushrooms.com/taxa/Clavulinopsis_fusiformis_05.htm
http://www.nybg.org/bsci/res/hall/fusiform.html

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