Clavariadelphus truncatus
Rev. Niederl. Homo. Aphyll. 2: 73. 1933.
Common Name: club coral
Fruiting body club-shaped, simple, 4-13 cm tall, 3-6 cm wide, tapering to a narrowed base, lacking a distinct stipe and cap; apex typically flattened or depressed at the center, the margin often raised and irregularly bumpy; surface elsewhere more or less smooth to longitudinally wrinkled or grooved; color pinkish-brown to orange-brown below, shading to yellowish-orange at the apex, whitish and hairy at the base; flesh white to yellowish, firm when young, soft at maturity, darkening when injured; odor mild, taste mild to sweet.
Spores 9-12 x 6-8 µm, elliptical, smooth; spore print pale yellowish-buff.
Scattered to gregarious on duff in conifer woods; fruiting from late fall to mid-winter.
Good edible with a sweet taste.
Clavariadelphus truncatus is distinguished by a club-shaped fruiting body, with a flattened or squared apex. It's shape is somewhat suggestive of the yellow chanterelle to which it is distantly related, but it lacks the characteristic ridges and cross-veined hymenium.
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