''Clavaria fragilis'', commonly known as fairy fingers, white worm coral, or white spindles, is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
of
fungus
A fungus (plural, : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of Eukaryote, eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and Mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified ...
in the family
Clavariaceae
The Clavariaceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. Originally the family contained most of the clavarioid fungi (club and coral fungi), but in its current sense is more restricted, albeit with a greater diversity of basidiocarp (fru ...
. It is
synonymous
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...
with ''Clavaria vermicularis''. The fungus is the
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen( ...
of the
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
''
Clavaria
''Clavaria'' is a genus of fungi in the family Clavariaceae. Species of ''Clavaria'' produce basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that are either cylindrical to club-shaped or branched and coral-like. They are often grouped with similar-looking species f ...
'' and is a typical member of the
clavarioid
The clavarioid fungi are a group of fungi in the ''Basidiomycota'' typically having erect, simple or branched basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that are formed on the ground, on decaying vegetation, or on dead wood. They are colloquially called club fun ...
or club fungi. It produces tubular, unbranched, white
basidiocarps
In fungi, a basidiocarp, basidiome, or basidioma () is the sporocarp of a basidiomycete, the multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne. Basidiocarps are characteristic of the hymenomycetes; rusts and smuts do not ...
(fruit bodies) that typically grow in clusters. The fruit bodies can reach dimensions of tall by thick. ''Clavaria fragilis'' is a
saprobic
Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi ( ...
species, growing in woodland litter or in old, unimproved
grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...
. It is widespread throughout
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...
regions in the
Northern Hemisphere, but has also been reported from Australia and South Africa. The fungus is
edible
An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from "eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushro ...
, but insubstantial and flavorless. There are several other small white coral-like fungi with which ''C. fragilis'' may be confused.
History and taxonomy
''Clavaria fragilis'' was
originally described from
Denmark
)
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, song_type = National and royal anthem
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, establishe ...
in 1790 by Danish naturalist and
mycologist
Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as w ...
Theodor Holmskjold
Johan Theodor Holmskiold (14 June 1731 – 15 September 1793) was a Danish noble, botanist, courtier and administrator.
He was noted for his scientific work with fungi and development of the Charlottenborg Botanical Garden. His career included wo ...
,
[ and was sanctioned under this name by Elias Magnus Fries in his 1821 '']Systema Mycologicum
Systema Mycologicum is a systematic classification of fungi drawn up in 1821 by the Swedish mycologist and botanist Elias Fries
Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist.
Career
...
''.[ The ]Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
epithet ''fragilis'' refers to the brittle fruit bodies. The species was redescribed by Swedish mycologist Olof Swartz
Olof Peter Swartz (21 September 1760 – 19 September 1818) was a Swedish botanist and taxonomist. He is best known for his taxonomic work and studies into pteridophytes.
Biography
Olof Swartz attended the University of Uppsala where he ...
in 1811, using the name ''Clavaria vermicularis'' (the epithet
An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...
meaning "wormlike"). Though it is a later synonym
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are al ...
—and thus obsolete according to the principle of priority
270px, '' Valid name (zoology)">valid name.
Priority is a fundamental principle of modern botanical nomenclature and zoological nomenclature. Essentially, it is the principle of recognising the first valid application of a name to a plant or an ...
—the latter name is still frequently used today. There are several other names considered to be synonymous with ''C. fragilis'' by the online taxonomical database MycoBank
MycoBank is an online database, documenting new mycological names and combinations, eventually combined with descriptions and illustrations. It is run by the Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute in Utrecht.
Each novelty, after being screen ...
(see the taxobox).
In North America, the fungus has colloquially
Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in conversa ...
been called "fairy fingers"[ or "white worm coral".][ In the UK its recommended English name is "white spindles".][ British naturalist ]Samuel Frederick Gray
Samuel Frederick Gray (10 December 1766 – 12 April 1828) was a British botanist, mycologist, and pharmacologist. He was the father of the zoologists John Edward Gray and George Robert Gray.
Background
He was the son of Samuel Gray, a Londo ...
called it the "worm club-stool" in his 1821 ''A Natural Arrangement of British Plants''.[
]
Description
The fruit bodies of ''C. fragilis'' are irregularly tubular, smooth to furrowed, sometimes compressed, very fragile, white, up to tall by thick, and typically grow in dense clusters.[ The tip of the fruit body tapers to a point, and may yellow and curve with age.] There is no distinct stalk
Stalk or stalking may refer to:
Behaviour
* Stalk, the stealthy approach (phase) of a predator towards its prey
* Stalking, an act of intrusive behaviour or unwanted attention towards a person
* Deer stalking, the pursuit of deer for sport
Biol ...
, although it is evident as a short, semitransparent zone of tissue at the base of the club.[ Microscopically, the ]hyphae
A hypha (; ) is a long, branching, filamentous structure of a fungus, oomycete, or actinobacterium. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium.
Structure
A hypha consists of one or ...
of the flesh
Flesh is any aggregation of soft tissues of an organism. Various multicellular organisms have soft tissues that may be called "flesh". In mammals, including humans, ''flesh'' encompasses muscles, fats and other loose connective tissues, but ...
are swollen up to 12 µm
The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Uni ...
wide and lack clamp connection
A clamp connection is a hook-like structure formed by growing hyphal cells of certain fungi. It is a characteristic feature of Basidiomycetes fungi. It is created to ensure that each cell, or segment of hypha separated by septa (cross walls), rece ...
s. The spore
In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, ...
s are smooth, colourless, ellipsoid
An ellipsoid is a surface that may be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation.
An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a surface that may be defined as the ...
to oblong, measuring 5–7 by 3–4 µm
The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Uni ...
.[ The spores are white in ]deposit Deposit may refer to:
*Deposit (finance) (also security deposit)
*Deposit (town), New York
*Deposit (village), New York
*Deposit account, a bank account that allows money to be deposited and withdrawn by the account holder
**Demand deposit, the fund ...
.[ The ]basidia
A basidium () is a microscopic sporangium (a spore-producing structure) found on the hymenophore of fruiting bodies of basidiomycete fungi which are also called tertiary mycelium, developed from secondary mycelium. Tertiary mycelium is highly- ...
(spore bearing cells) measure 40–50 by 6–8 µm, and lack clamps at their bases.[
]
Edibility
''Clavaria fragilis'' is nonpoisonous and reportedly edible
An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from "eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushro ...
, but the fruit bodies are insubstantial and fragile.[ One ]field guide
A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife (flora or fauna) or other objects of natural occurrence (e.g. rocks and minerals). It is generally designed to be brought into the " field" or local area where such objects e ...
says "its flesh is tasteless and so delicate that it seems to dissolve in one's mouth."[ Its odor has been compared to ]iodine
Iodine is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid at standard conditions that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , ...
.[
]
Distribution and habitat
The species occurs throughout the Northern Hemisphere, in Europe, North America, and Asia. In North America, it is more common east of the Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...
.[ It has also been recorded from Australia and South Africa.][ In 2006, it was reported from the Arctic zone of the ]Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...
, in Russia.[
The fungus grows in woodland and in grassland on moist soil, and is presumed to be ]saprobic
Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi ( ...
, rotting fallen leaf litter
Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that have fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituent ...
and dead grass stems. The fruit bodies tend to grow in groups, tufts
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
or clusters.[ Although they can grow singly, they are typically inconspicuous unless in clusters.][
]
Similar species
Similar fungi with simple, white fruit bodies include '' Clavaria acuta'', an equally widespread species that typically grows singly or in small groups rather than in dense clusters[ and can be distinguished microscopically by its clamped basidia and larger spores;][ the morphologically similar, but rare '' C. atkinsoniana'', found in the southwestern and central United States, which cannot be distinguished from ''C. fragilis'' by field characteristics alone but has larger spores—8.5–10 by 4.5–5 µm;] '' C. rubicundula'', another North American species, which is similar in stature but has a reddish tint;[ and '']Multiclavula mucida
''Multiclavula'' is a genus of basidiolichens in the family Hydnaceae. The widespread genus contains 14 species.Reschke, K., Lotz-Winter, H., Fischer, C.W., Hofmann, T.A., Piepenbring, M., 2021. New and interesting species of Agaricomycetes fr ...
'', a widespread lichenized species with smaller fruit bodies that occurs with its associated algae
Algae ( , ; : alga ) are any of a large and diverse group of photosynthetic, eukaryotic organisms. The name is an informal term for a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from ...
on moist wood.[
Other similar species include '']Alloclavaria purpurea
''Alloclavaria purpurea'' is a coral fungus commonly known as the purple coral, or the purple fairy club. Formerly known as ''Clavaria purpurea'', it has been moved to its own genus as a result of phylogenetic analysis.
Description
The fruiting ...
'', ''Clavulinopsis fusiformis
''Clavulinopsis fusiformis'', commonly known as golden spindles, spindle-shaped yellow coral, or spindle-shaped fairy club, is a species of coral fungus in the family Clavariaceae.
Taxonomy
The species was first described as ''Clavaria fusifo ...
'', ''Clavulinopsis laeticolor
''Clavulinopsis laeticolor'' is a coral mushroom in the family Clavariaceae. It has fruit bodies with slender, bright orange to yellow arms up to tall and 3 mm wide. It fruits singly or in loose groups on the ground, often among mosses. A ...
'', and ''Macrotyphula juncea''.
Conservation status
In North America, ''Clavaria fragilis'' has been called "by far our most common ''Clavaria''".[ In northern Europe, it is one of a suite of "CHEG" fungi (CHEG standing for "''Clavarioid fungi-]Hygrocybe
''Hygrocybe'' is a genus of agarics (gilled fungi) in the family Hygrophoraceae. Called waxcaps in English (sometimes waxy caps in North America), basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are often brightly coloured and have dry to waxy caps, white spores, an ...
-Entoloma
''Entoloma'' is a large genus of terrestrial pink-gilled mushrooms, with about 1,000 species. Most have a drab appearance, pink gills which are attached to the stem, a smooth thick cap, and angular spores. Many entolomas are saprobic but some ...
- Geoglossaceae''") considered to be indicator species
A bioindicator is any species (an indicator species) or group of species whose function, population, or status can reveal the qualitative status of the environment. The most common indicator species are animals. For example, copepods and other sma ...
of old, unimproved grassland (permanent grassland that has not been cultivated for some years).[ Though such grasslands are a threatened habitat in Europe, ''C. fragilis'' is one of the commoner CHEG species. It is, nonetheless, on the national ]red list
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biolog ...
of threatened fungi in the Netherlands and Slovenia.
References
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2424229
Clavariaceae
Edible fungi
Fungi of Africa
Fungi of Asia
Fungi of Australia
Fungi of Europe
Fungi of North America
Fungi described in 1790
Fungi of the Arctic