Ramaria rubella (Schaeff. per Krombh.) R.H. Petersen forma blanda R.H. Petersen
no common name
Gomphaceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
no common name
Gomphaceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
Photograph
Species Information
Summary:
Ramaria rubella forma rubella has 1) dull violaceous rose (ruddy) fruitbodies with short or absent stem, 2) upper branches more brightly colored, tips with the last half millimeter white at first, 3) deep red-purple reaction of spore-bearing surface to KOH, 4) white rhizomorphs that turn light mauve pink in 10% KOH, 5) short spores with cyanophilic ornamentation of low scattered small warts to delicate ridges, and 6) rhizomorphic strands with generative hyphae and skeletalized generative hyphae.
Chemical Reactions:
spore-bearing surface deep red-purple in KOH, spore-bearing surface dark slate green in ferric sulphate in water, rhizomorphic strands change to bright mauve pink in 10% KOH, (Petersen), stem flesh inamyloid, (Marr)
Odor:
none or faintly of anise (Petersen), not distinctive to musty sweet, (Scates-Barnhart), not distinctive or faintly musty-sweet, (Marr)
Taste:
very slowly acrid [peppery] to strongly acrid (Petersen), mild to usually acrid (biting), (Scates-Barnhart), not distinctive, (Marr)
Microscopic:
spores 6.3-9.5 x 4.1-5.5 microns, average 7.5 x 4.29 microns, broadly cylindric to slightly ovoid, roughened in profile, strongly cyanophilic ornamentation of low, scattered, small warts to delicate ridges not covering significant wall areas, contents no droplets to several minute droplets, the droplets non-refringent and brownish under phase contrast, wall up to 0.3 microns thick, weakly cyanophilic, apiculus "prominent, eccentric, prolonged, not perpendicular", basidia 4-spored, 35-60 x 7-7.5 microns, clavate, clamped; hyphae of rhizomorphic strands of 2 types: 1) thin-walled generative hyphae, 2-5 microns wide, colorless, conspicuously clamped, and 2) skeletalized generative hyphae, 3-4 microns wide, thick-walled (wall often completely obscuring lumen), "arising from clamped septum of generative hypha and almost invariably ending in the same manner (although rarely ending blindly)", acyanophilic, colorless, inflated clamp connections abundant, up to 35 microns wide, somewhat thick-walled (wall up to 1 micron thick), not ornamented; hyphae of upper branch trama 2.2-7.5 microns wide, colorless, thick-walled to extremely thick-walled (wall obscuring lumen), long-celled, with conspicuous clamp connections, subparallel, commonly anastomosing, acyanophilic, inflated clamp connections not observed, (Petersen), spores 5.5-8 x 4-5.5 microns, average 6.4 x 4.6 microns, elliptic, ornamented with numerous small but distinct papillate cyanophilic warts, prominent lateral apiculus present, (Marr)
Spore Deposit:
golden yellow'' (Marr)
Notes:
Collections were examined from BC, WA, OR, ID, NB, NS, ON, PQ, CA, MA, MI, NC, NH, NY, TN, VT, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, and it is also reported from Japan, (Petersen).
EDIBILITY
uncertain (Scates-Barnhart)
Habitat and Range
SIMILAR SPECIES
Ramaria rubella forma blanda has 1) rhizomorphic strands that are unchanging or yellowish in 10% KOH, and 2) hymenium that is clearly unilateral, especially in dried specimens, whereas R. rubella forma rubella has rhizomorphic strands turning bright mauve pink in 10% KOH, hymenium amphigenous, or if not, then sterile areas restricted to narrow lines decurrent from axils, and 3) the spores of forma blanda are also slightly shorter, (Petersen). Ramaria apiculata var. brunnea 1) is tan or brown (not ruddy or ruddy purple), 2) rhizomorphic strands turn weak brown in 10% KOH, (not bright pinkish mauve), and 3) it has spores that are elliptic rather than broadly ovoid, (Petersen).Habitat
on wood, August to November, (Petersen), growing from decayed conifer wood, collected in a mixed Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas-fir) and Thuja plicata (Western Red-cedar) forest, September to November, (Marr), on decaying conifer wood or hardwood, fall, (Scates-Barnhart)
Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Byssomerulius ambiguus (Berk.) Gilb. & Budington J.
Meruliopsis ambigua (Berk.) Ginns