E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Summary:
Lentaria pinicola group produces small fruitbodies that are repeatedly branched, the branches light yellow to pale tan or bronze, any part turning darker brown with handling or aging, the tips pale yellow when young. A stem is sometimes present. It arises from a broad basal mat and a tangle of extensive white rhizomorphs, on rotting conifer wood, often clustered or in tufts. Spores are smooth, and there are monomitic hyphae in the basal mat with short sharp spines. The online Species Fungorum, accessed September 4, 2017, gives Ramaria pinicola (Burt) Corner as the current name but MycoBank, accessed the same day gave both names as equivalent.

Distribution includes central and western North America and the type collection is from ID, (Petersen). It is common in the woods of western WA (Marr). There are collections from BC (as Ramaria pinicola) at the University of British Columbia, and from WA, OR, and CA, (as Ramaria pinicola) at Oregon State University.

Fruiting body:
up to 4.5cm high, repeatedly branched, "axils somewhat flattened, narrowly rounded", "internodes 0.2-1.5cm long, diminishing abruptly, and often in only a single rank", tips very acute to almost flagelliform, round in cross-section, minute, (Petersen), 1.5-7.5cm high, tips pointed or toothed, (Scates-Barnhart)

Flesh:
leathery; paler than surface, (Scates-Barnhart)

Branch color:
variable from light yellow to pale tan or bronze, any part bruising darker brown with handling or aging, tips pale yellow when young, aging the same color as the branches, (Scates-Barnhart)

Stem:
usually clustered and stem not visible, occasionally present, single, slender, similar in color to branches or browner; fruitbody arising from white rhizomorphs up to 0.2cm wide and surrounded by white cottony threads, (Scates-Barnhart), stems almost absent, or fruitbodies from slender stems arising from broad basal mat and gregarious to cespitose, attached tenuously to rhizomorphic strands and basal mat; basal mat broad, byssoid to stringy, disappearing into a tangle of extensive white rhizomorphic strands permeating the woody substrate, (Petersen)

Odor:
earthy (Scates-Barnhart), faintly earthy (Marr)

Taste:
slightly bitter (Marr, Scates-Barnhart)

Microscopic:
spores 7.7-9.3 x 4.5-5.7 microns, elliptic to subovoid, smooth (without ornamentation), contents homogeneous, wall up to 0.4 microns wide, somewhat thinner at distal end, apiculus prominent, eccentric, and rounded-truncate; hyphae of basal mat 2.5-5.5 microns wide, colorless, conspicuously clamped, thin-walled to somewhat thick-walled (up to 1 micron thick), often ornamented with small sharp cyanophilic scattered spines, inflated clamp connections common, hyphae of rhizomorphic strands also ornamented, (Petersen), 8-12 x 4-6 microns, clamp connections present, rhizomorphic strands monomitic, (Scates-Barnhart), spores 8-12 x 4-6 microns, average 9.2 x 4.8 microns, subcylindric to oval, smooth, slightly thick-walled, contents homogeneous or one or two droplets, wall and content cyanophilic; basidia 2-4-spored (mostly 4-spored), 40-69 x 7-11 microns, clavate, clamped, contents granular and cyanophilic; clamp connections present; rhizomorphic strands monomitic, (Marr)

Spore Deposit:
golden yellow'' (Marr, color from Kornerup(2))