''Ramariopsis'' is a

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 ...

coral 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 f ...

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 ...

. The genus has a collectively widespread distribution and contains about 40 species. The name means 'having the appearance of '' Ramaria.

Taxonomy

''Ramariopsis'' was originally defined as a

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed betw ...

of '' Clavaria'' by Dutch mycologist

Marinus Anton Donk Marinus Anton Donk (14 August 1908 – 2 September 1972) was a Dutch mycologist. He specialized in the taxonomy and nomenclature of mushrooms. Rolf Singer wrote in his obituary that he was "one of the most outstanding figures of contemporary mycol ...

in 1933. Several European species similar to the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

, '' Clavaria kunzei'', were included: '' Clavaria subtilis'', '' Clavaria pyxidata'', '' Clavaria angulispora'', and '' Clavaria pulchella''. In Donk's concept, defining characteristics of the group included small, branching, fruitbodies with a stipe, and an almost

cartilaginous Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints as articular cartilage, and is a structural component of many body parts including the rib cage, the neck a ...

consistency to 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 ...

Spores 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, ...

are small and

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from el, ὑάλινος, translit=hyálinos, lit=transparent, and el, ὕαλος, translit=hýalos, lit=crystal, glass, label=none. Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is ...

(translucent), spherical to

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 ...

, and have a surface ornamentation ranging from echinulate (spiny) to verruculose (covered with small warts).

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 ...

promoted the subgenus to generic status in his 1950 world monograph of clavarioid fungi. Ron Petersen emended the genus in 1966 to include smooth-spored species, such as '' R. minutula''. Three years later, he proposed the subgenus ''Laevispora'' to contain the smooth-spored species. In 1985, Pegler and Young used

electron microscopy An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of accelerated electrons as a source of illumination. As the wavelength of an electron can be up to 100,000 times shorter than that of visible light photons, electron microscopes have a ...

to examine the ultrastructural details of the spore surface, which revealed that the spores considered smooth with conventional light microscopy were ornamented at the ultrastructural level. They determined that the genus could be divided into three groups based on spore ornamentation. The ''Kunzei'' group have a discontinuous tunica (sheath) that form verrucae (warts); the ''Biformis'' group have a continuous tunica that form verrucae; and the ''Minutula'' group have a continuous tunica that form rugosities (wrinkles or creases).

Description

Species have upright

fruit 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 c ...

that are stalked, with several branches, often dichotomously, sometimes antler-like. The branches can be cylindrical or flattened, with a pointed or rounded apex, and the texture of the

can be brittle or fairly tough, and in various colours.

Hypha 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 o ...

e are more or less swollen, with clamps. 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- ...

are mostly four-spored. Spores are broadly

or roughly spherical, with a maximum length of 5.5 μm. They are

, finely echinulate or warted, and each contains a large oil-drop or guttule.

Distribution

''Ramariopsis'' species are widely distributed in semi-evergreen to wet evergreen shola forests of the Western Ghats, Kerala, India and occur scattered in dense clumps on soil and rarely on rotten wood. Two species, viz. ''Ramariopsis kunzei'' and ''R. pulchella'' have been reported from the Western Ghats.

Species

Index Fungorum ''Index Fungorum'' is an international project to index all formal names (scientific names) in the fungus kingdom. the project is based at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, one of three partners along with Landcare Research and the Institute of M ...

include 36 valid species in ''Ramariopsis''. Petersen described over a dozen new species from New Zealand in 1988. *'' R. agglutinata'' R.H.Petersen 1988 – New Zealand *'' R. alutacea'' R.H.Petersen 1988 – New Zealand *'' R. asperulospora'' (G.F.Atk.) Corner 1950 *'' R. asterella'' (G.F.Atk.) Corner 1950 *'' R. aurantioolivacea'' R.H.Petersen 1988 – New Zealand *'' R. avellanea'' R.H.Petersen 1988 – New Zealand *'' R. avellaneo-inversa'' R.H.Petersen 1988 – New Zealand *'' R. bicolor'' R.H.Petersen 1988 – New Zealand *'' R. biformis'' (G.F.Atk.) R.H.Petersen 1964 *'' R. californica'' R.H.Petersen 1969 *'' R. cinnamomipes'' R.H.Petersen 1978 *'' R. citrina'' Schild 1971 *'' R. clavuligera'' (R.Heim) Corner 1950 *'' R. costaricensis'' L.D.Gómez 1972 *'' R. cremicolor'' R.H.Petersen 1988 – New Zealand *'' R. crocea'' (Pers.) Corner 1950 *'' R. dealbata'' (Berk.) R.H.Petersen 1984 *'' R. flavescens'' R.H.Petersen 1969 *'' R. hibernica'' Corner 1971 *'' R. holmskjoldii'' (Oudem.) R.H.Petersen 1978 *'' R. junquillea'' R.H.Petersen 1988 – New Zealand *'' R. kunzei'' (Fr.) Corner 1950 *'' R. longipes'' R.H.Petersen 1988 – New Zealand *'' R. luteotenerrima'' (Overeem) R.H.Petersen 1988 – New Zealand *'' R. minutula'' (Bourdot & Galzin) R.H.Petersen 1966 *'' R. novae-hibernica'' Corner 1971 *'' R. ovispora'' R.H.Petersen 1988 – New Zealand *'' R. pseudosubtilis'' R.H.Petersen 1969 *'' R. pulchella'' (Boud.) Corner 1950 *'' R. ramarioides'' R.H.Petersen 1988 – New Zealand *'' R. simplex'' R.H.Petersen 1988 – New Zealand *'' R. subtilis'' (Pers.) R.H.Petersen 1978 *'' R. tenuicula'' (Bourdot & Galzin) R.H.Petersen 1969 *'' R. tenuiramosa'' Corner 1950 *'' R. tortuosa'' R.H.Petersen 1988 – New Zealand *'' R. vestitipes'' (Peck) Corner 1950

References

External links