''Clavulinopsis sulcata'' is a

clavarioid fungus 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 ...

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 (frui ...

and 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 ''

Clavulinopsis ''Clavulinopsis'' is a genus of coral fungi in the family Clavariaceae. The genus, first described scientifically by Casper van Overeem in 1923, has a widespread distribution. The name means "having the appearance of ''Clavulina''". Species , ...

''. It forms very long, slender, cylindrical pinkish or orange

fruiting bodies The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cyc ...

that grow on the ground among plant litter. A

vernacular name Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken form of language, particularly when perceived as having lower social status or less prestige than standard language, which is more codified, institutionally promoted, literary, or formal. More n ...

that has been used for the species is flame fungus.

Taxonomy

The species was originally described from Java in 1923 by the Dutch mycologist

Casper van Overeem Casper van Overeem (1 October 1893 – 28 February 1927) was a Dutch mycology, mycologist who pioneered the systematic study of tropical fungi in the Dutch East Indies (present‑day Indonesia). Initially trained as a teacher, he developed his s ...

, when he made it the

of the newly

circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...

genus ''

''. In his influential

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

of the

clavarioid fungi 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 ...

, the English mycologist

E.J.H. Corner Edred John Henry Corner FRS (12 January 1906 – 14 September 1996) was an English mycologist and botanist who occupied the posts of assistant director at the Singapore Botanic Gardens (1929–1946) and Professor of Tropical Botany at the Univ ...

considered ''Clavulinopsis sulcata'' to be a synonym of ''Clavaria miniata'', originally described by the English

cryptogam A cryptogam (scientific name ''Cryptogamae'') is a plant, in the broad sense of the word, or a plant-like organism that share similar characteristics, such as being multicellular, photosynthetic, and primarily immobile, that reproduces via sp ...

ist

Miles Joseph Berkeley Miles Joseph Berkeley (1 April 1803 – 30 July 1889) was an English cryptogamist and clergyman, and one of the founders of the science of plant pathology. Life Berkeley was born at Biggin Hall, Benefield, Northamptonshire, and educated at ...

in 1843, from collections made in

Uitenhage Uitenhage ( ; ), officially renamed Kariega, is a South African town in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. Along with the city of Port El ...

, South Africa. Berkeley's name is, however,

illegitimate Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...

since it is a

homonym In linguistics, homonyms are words which are either; '' homographs''—words that mean different things, but have the same spelling (regardless of pronunciation), or '' homophones''—words that mean different things, but have the same pronunciat ...

of the earlier and unrelated ''Clavaria miniata'' Purton (1821). Corner also considered ''Clavaria phoenicea'', described from Java in 1847 by the Swiss mycologist

Heinrich Zollinger Heinrich Zollinger (22 March 1818 – 19 May 1859) was a Swiss botanist. Zollinger was born in Feuerthalen, Switzerland. From 1837 to 1838 he studied botany at the University of Geneva under Augustin and Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle, but ha ...

, to be a further synonym. The American mycologist Ronald H. Petersen initially agreed with Corner that ''Clavaria miniata'' was the same species. But a study of the type specimen by British mycologist

Derek Reid Derek Agutter Reid (2 September 1927 – 18 January 2006) was an English mycologist. Background and education Reid was born in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, the son of a picture-framer. He was educated at Cedars School and the University o ...

showed that ''C. miniata'' had

ellipsoid An ellipsoid is a surface that can be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional Scaling (geometry), scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation. An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a Surface (mathemat ...

(not globose) spores and was therefore possibly not synonymous, as later acknowledged by Petersen. Petersen also noted that ''C. sulcata'' was part of a complex of related globose-spored species representing collections with apricot-coloured fruit bodies, with ''C. phoenicea'' having red-orange fruit bodies, and ''Clavaria miyabeana'' blood-red fruit bodies.

Description

The fruit body of ''Clavulinopsis sulcata'' is cylindrical or somewhat club-shaped, up to borne on a cylindrical stipe up to long. Several fruit bodies may grow close together, or they may grow singly, or in groups of two or three. At first they are tapering, but become irregularly fleshy or inflated later, and ridged or wrinkled and somewhat waxy as they age. The flesh is pink or orange-pink; the stipe is a similar colour but is pale pinkish-salmon at the base. The flesh is odourless and tastes mildly of carrots, with a slightly bitter aftertaste. The spores are borne on the sides of the clubs and have thin walls; they measure 5.8–7.2 by 5.8–6.8

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 ...

, and are globose and opalescent.

Distribution and habitat

''Clavulinopsis sulcata'' was initially described from Indonesia and has also been reported from eastern Australia and New Zealand, where its range includes the states of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, as well as both islands of New Zealand. It is a fairly common fungus, and its conservation status has been assessed as being of

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

. It grows on the ground among

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 has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituen ...

. In Tasmania it is found in mixed ''

Nothofagus ''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere, found across southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Guin ...

'' and ''

Leptospermum ''Leptospermum'' is a genus of shrubs and small trees in the myrtle family Myrtaceae commonly known as tea trees, although this name is sometimes also used for some species of ''Melaleuca''. Most species are endemic to Australia, with the greate ...

'' woodland.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5129577 Clavariaceae Fungi described in 1923 Fungi of Asia Fungi of Australia Fungi of New Zealand Fungus species