Clavulinopsis laeticolor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Clavulinopsis laeticolor | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Agaricales |
| Family: | Clavariaceae |
| Genus: | Clavulinopsis |
| Species: | C. laeticolor |
| Binomial name | |
| Clavulinopsis laeticolor | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Clavaria laeticolor Berk. & M.A.Curtis (1868) | |
| Clavulinopsis laeticolor | |
|---|---|
| Mycological characteristics | |
 | Smooth hymenium |
 | No distinct cap |
 | Hymenium attachment is irregular or not applicable |
 | Stipe is bare |
 | Spore print is white |
 | Ecology is saprotrophic |
 | Edibility is unknown or inedible |
Clavulinopsis laeticolor, commonly known as the golden fairy club[1] or handsome club,[2] is a clavarioid fungus in the family Clavariaceae. It forms slender, cylindrical, yellow fruit bodies that grow on the ground in woodland litter or in agriculturally unimproved grassland.
The species was originally described from Cuba in 1868 by British mycologist Miles Joseph Berkeley and his American collaborator and fellow clergyman Moses Ashley Curtis. In 1965, it was placed in the genus Clavulinopsis by American mycologist Ron Petersen. English mycologist E. J. H. Corner treated the species under the name Clavulinopsis pulchra, a taxon originally described from the United States and part of the C. laeticolor complex.[3][4]
The species complex is as yet unresolved.[5]
Description
The fruit body is cylindrical to narrowly clavate, up to 100 mm (4 in) by 10 mm,[1] lemon yellow to deep yellow, with an indistinct stem, white at the base. Microscopically, the basidiospores are hyaline, ellipsoid, 4.5 to 7 by 3.5 to 5 μm, with a large, eccentric apiculus.[6]
Similar species
In Europe, Clavulinopsis helvola is a very similar species in the same habitat and best distinguished microscopically by its spiny spores. Clavulinopsis luteoalba is also similar, though typically a more orange-yellow. Clavulinopsis fusiformis is similarly coloured, but fruit bodies are normally larger and appear in dense, fasciculate (closely bunched) clusters.
