''Ramaria formosa'', commonly known as the pinkish coral mushroom, salmon coral, beautiful clavaria, handsome clavaria, yellow-tipped- or pink coral fungus, is a coral fungus found in Europe. Similar forms collected in North America are considered to represent a different species. It is a pinkish, much-branched coral-shape reaching some high. It is widely held to be mildly poisonous if consumed, giving rise to acute gastrointestinal symptoms of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and colicky pain.

Taxonomy

The fungus was initially described by

Christian Hendrik Persoon Christiaan Hendrik Persoon (31 December 1761 – 16 November 1836) was a Cape Colony mycologist who is recognized as one of the founders of mycology, mycological Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. Early life Persoon was born in Cape Colony at ...

in 1797 as ''Clavaria formosa''. In 1821,

Elias Magnus Fries Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist. He is sometimes called the Mycology, "Linnaeus of Mycology". In his works he described and assigned botanical names to hundreds of fungus and li ...

sanctioned the genus name '' Clavaria'', and treated '' Ramaria'' as a section of ''Clavaria''. It was placed in its current

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

by French mycologist Lucien Quélet in 1888.

Synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely 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 a ...

have resulted from transfers of the fungus to the now obsolete genera ''Merisma'' by Harald Othmar Lenz in 1831, and to ''Corallium'' by Gotthold Hahn in 1883. The generic name is derived from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''rāmus'' 'branch', while the

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

comes from the

''formōsus'' 'beautiful'.

Common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

s include salmon coral, beautiful clavaria, handsome clavaria, yellow-tipped- or pink coral fungus. There is some confusion over its classification as there is evidence the binomial name has been applied loosely to any coral fungus fitting the description, and thus the collections from North America are now considered to be a different species.

Description

The fruit body of ''Ramaria formosa'' grows to a height of and width of ; it is a many-branched coral-like structure, the yellow-tipped pinkish branches arising from a thick base. Terminal branches are less than in diameter. The flesh is white, with pink in the middle, or pale orange. It may turn wine-coloured or blackish when bruised. Old specimens fade so the original colour is hard to distinguish. The smell is unpleasant and taste bitter. The spores have a cylindrical to elliptical shape, and measure 8–15 by 4–6 μm. The spore surface features small warts that are arranged in confluent lines. Basidia (spore-bearing cells) are club-shaped, measuring 40–60 by 7–10 μm Clamp connections are present in the hyphae.

Similar species

There are several other ''Ramaria'' species with yellow-tipped, salmon-coloured branches, including '' R. leptoformosa'', '' R. neoformosa'', '' R. raveneliana'' and '' R. rubricarnata''. These are distinguished from ''R. formosa'' most reliably using microscopic characteristics. One guide recommends that all old coral fungi should be avoided for consumption.

Distribution and habitat

Fruiting in autumn, ''Ramaria formosa'' is associated with

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

and is found in Europe. In

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, the fungus is thought to form

mycorrhiza A mycorrhiza (; , mycorrhiza, or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant's rhizosphere, the plant root system and its surroundings. Mycorrhizae play ...

l associations with golden oak (''Quercus alnifolia'').

Toxicity

Consumption of the fungus results in acute gastrointestinal symptoms of nausea, vomiting, colicky abdominal pain and diarrhea. The toxins responsible are unknown to date. It has been reported as edible if the acrid tips are removed.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1257786 Gomphaceae Poisonous fungi Fungi described in 1797 Fungi of Asia Fungi of Europe Fungi of North America Fungus species