''Clavulina cristata'', commonly known as the wrinkled coral fungus, white coral fungus or the crested coral fungus, is a white- or light-colored edible

coral mushroom 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 fungi a ...

present in

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

areas of the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

and Europe. It is the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, 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 spe ...

of the genus ''

Clavulina ''Clavulina'' is a genus of fungus in the family Clavulinaceae, in the Cantharelloid clade (order Cantharellales). Species are characterized by having extensively branched fruit bodies, white spore prints, and bisterigmate basidia (often with se ...

''.

Taxonomy

The commonly used species name ''cristata'' was coined in 1790 by Danish mycologist Theodor Holmskjold (as ''Ramaria cristata''). However,

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

described apparently the same fungus as ''Clavaria coralloides'' in his ''

Species Plantarum ' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genus, genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial nomenclature ...

'' in 1753. Therefore, according to the ''

International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN or ICNafp) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all tho ...

'', the name ''Clavulina coralloides'' should be used in preference to ''Clavulina cristata'',See Kuo, M. (2007, April) the MushroomExpert.Com Web site entry

although the latter name is in more common use.

Description

The fruit bodies, which are generally white- to cream-colored, can be up to tall, and broad. The coral "arms" are sparingly branched (3–4 times), 2–4 mm wide, smooth, and sometimes wrinkled longitudinally. The tips are cristate, having small pointed projections, and will often darken with age or in dry weather. The Stipe (mycology), stems vary in form and can be long and 5–20 mm wide. The fruit bodies have no distinctive odor, and a mild taste. The fruit bodies may have a darker color either due to natural variation (whereby the appearance of this species may approach and be confused with '' C. cinerea'') or because of infection by a microscopic fungus, ''Helminthosphaeria clavariarum''. File:Clavulina coralloides (36265931924).jpg File:Clavulina coralloides 241419800.jpg File:Clavulina cristata6.jpg

Microscopic features

The

spores In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual (in fungi) 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 plant ...

are white, roughly spherical, thick-walled, non-

amyloid Amyloids are aggregates of proteins characterised by a fibrillar morphology of typically 7–13 nm in diameter, a β-sheet secondary structure (known as cross-β) and ability to be stained by particular dyes, such as Congo red. In the human ...

, smooth, and have dimensions of 7–11 by 6–10

μm The micrometre (Commonwealth English as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American English), also commonly known by the non-SI term micron, is a unit of length in the International System ...

Basidia A basidium (: basidia) is a microscopic spore-producing structure found on the hymenophore of reproductive bodies of basidiomycete fungi. The presence of basidia is one of the main characteristic features of the group. These bodies are also ...

are club-shaped, 60–80 by 6–8 μm, and 2-spored.

Cystidia A cystidium (: cystidia) is a relatively large cell found on the sporocarp of a basidiomycete (for example, on the surface of a mushroom gill), often between clusters of basidia. Since cystidia have highly varied and distinct shapes that are o ...

are absent.

Sterigmata In biology, a sterigma (: sterigmata) is a small supporting structure. It commonly refers to an extension of the basidium (the spore-bearing cells) consisting of a basal filamentous part and a slender projection which carries a spore at the tip ...

, the slender projections of the basidium that bear the spores, may be straight or curved, and up to 7–8 μm long.Google Books
/ref> Microscopic and molecular analysis indicate that the species is related to

chanterelle Chanterelle is the common name of several species of fungi in the genera ''Cantharellus'', ''Craterellus'', ''Gomphus (fungus), Gomphus'', and ''Polyozellus''. They are orange, yellow or white, meaty and funnel-shaped. On the lower surface, mos ...

Chemistry

In addition to the major

fatty acid In chemistry, in particular in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated and unsaturated compounds#Organic chemistry, saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an ...

components,

palmitic acid Palmitic acid (hexadecanoic acid in IUPAC nomenclature) is a fatty acid with a 16-carbon chain. It is the most common saturated fatty acid found in animals, plants and microorganisms.Gunstone, F. D., John L. Harwood, and Albert J. Dijkstra. The ...

oleic acid Oleic acid is a fatty acid that occurs naturally in various animal and vegetable fats and oils. It is an odorless, colorless oil, although commercial samples may be yellowish due to the presence of impurities. In chemical terms, oleic acid is cl ...

and

linoleic acid Linoleic acid (LA) is an organic compound with the formula . Both alkene groups () are ''cis''. It is a fatty acid sometimes denoted 18:2 (n−6) or 18:2 ''cis''-9,12. A linoleate is a salt or ester of this acid. Linoleic acid is a polyunsat ...

, ''C. cristata'' contains two unusual fatty acids, ''cis''-9, ''cis''-14-octadecadien-12-ynoic acid, and the conjugated ''cis''-9, ''trans''-11, ''trans''-13, ''cis''-15-octadecatetraenoic acid (commonly known as α- parinaric acid). ''C. cristata'' is the only fungi known to contain α-parinaric acid.

Similar species

Some other coral fungi have macroscopic and microscopic features similar to ''C. cristata'', making identification confusing. ''

Clavulina rugosa ''Clavulina rugosa'', commonly known as the wrinkled coral fungus, is a species of coral fungus in the family Clavulinaceae. It is edible. Taxonomy The species was originally described as ''Clavaria rugosa'' by Jean Bulliard in 1790. It was tra ...

'' is unbranched or sparingly branched. ''Clavulina cinerea'' is usually darker in color. '' Ramaria stricta'' has parallel branches and grows on wood. ''

Lentaria byssiseda ''Lentaria'' is a genus of fungi in the family Lentariaceae. The genus has a widespread distribution and contains 17 species. It was circumscribed by British mycologist Edred John Henry Corner in 1950. Many members are important decomposers in f ...

'' is light brown with white tips. ''

Ramariopsis kunzei ''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 ...

'' is often bright white and smooth, and '' Sebacina schweinitzii'' is very tough.

Distribution and habitat

''Clavulina cristata'' is found growing solitary or in clusters on the ground (sometimes on rotten wood) in both

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

ous and

hardwood Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...

forests in

areas of the

(October–March on the west coast of North America and July–October further inland) and Europe (June–November). It is a common mushroom, and typically fruits from late summer to winter.

Uses

This 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 mushroo ...

,Google Books
/ref> but the tough flesh and insubstantial fruit bodies make it unappetizing to some individuals. It is considered excellent by some.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q138027 Fungi of Europe Fungi of North America Edible fungi cristata Fungus species