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. It was originally described from Cuba and is part of a species complex as yet unresolved.[3]
| Clavulinopsis laeticolor | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Agaricales |
| Family: | Clavariaceae |
| Genus: | Clavulinopsis |
| Species: | C. laeticolor
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| Binomial name | |
| Clavulinopsis laeticolor | |
| Synonyms | |
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Clavaria laeticolor Berk. & M.A.Curtis (1868) | |
Taxonomy
editThe 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.[4][5]
Description
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The fruit body of Clavulinopsis laeticolor is cylindrical to narrowly clavate, up to 100 by 10 mm, 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
editIn 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.
Distribution and habitat
editClavulinopsis laeticolor was initially described from Cuba. In its wide sense, as part of a complex of similar species, it has been reported from North America,[6] Europe (as C. pulchra),[4] Malaya (as C. pulchra),[5] China,[7] Australia (as C. pulchra),[5] New Zealand,[8] Brazil,[9] Central and South America (as C. pulchra).[5]
The species occurs singly or in small clusters on the ground and is presumed to be saprotrophic. In America and Asia it grows in woodland, but in Europe it generally occurs in agriculturally unimproved, short-sward grassland (pastures and lawns). Such waxcap grasslands are a declining and threatened habitat, but Clavulinopsis laeticolor is one of the commoner species and is not generally considered of conservation concern.
References
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- ^ Arora, David (1986). Mushrooms demystified: a comprehensive guide to the fleshy fungi (Second ed.). Berkeley: Ten Speed Press. ISBN 978-0-89815-169-5.
- ^ Holden L. (April 2022). "English names for fungi April 2022". British Mycological Society. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
- ^ Birkebak JM. "Clavariaceae.org". Retrieved 2023-11-20.
- ^ a b Corner EJH. (1950). A monograph of Clavaria and allied genera. Annals of Botany Memoirs. Vol. 1. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 623–4.
- ^ a b c d Corner EJH (1970). Supplement to 'A monograph of Clavaria and allied genera'. Beihefte zur Nova Hedwigia. Vol. 33. Lehre, Germany: J. Cramer. p. 10.
- ^ a b Petersen RH (1968). "The genus Clavulinopsis in North America". Mycologia Memoir (2): 1–39.
- ^ Yan J, Wen J, Li G, Wu S, Zhang P (2023). "Taxonomy and phylogenetic relationships of Clavulinopsis (Clavariaceae, Agaricales): Description of six new species and one newly recorded species from China". Journal of Fungi. 9 (6): 656. doi:10.3390/jof9060656. PMC 10305072. PMID 37367591.
- ^ Petersen RH (1988). The Clavarioid Fungi of New Zealand. DSIR bulletin. Lubrecht & Cramer. p. 128. ISBN 978-0477025140.
- ^ Furtado AN, Daniels PP, Neves MA (2016). "New species and new records of Clavariaceae (Agaricales) from Brazil". Phytotaxa. 253: 1. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.253.1.1.
Clavulinopsis laeticolor | |
|---|---|
 | 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 |