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

Summary:
Features of Ramaria rubiginosa include 1) medium size, 2) thick, single or somewhat compound stem, 3) branches that are light yellow with bright yellow tips, 4) any part of the fruitbody but especially the base bruising or staining ''reddish brown'', 5) spores finely ornamented with lobed anastomosing warts, and 6) absent clamp connections. It is possible that this is the same species as Ramaria sanguinea (Pers.) Quel., in which case Ramaria rubiginosa would be reduced to a synonym of that species (Petersen(12)). The average spore length divided by the average spore width is 2.14: there is apparently an unnamed species that is similar but with average spore length divided by average spore width = 2.50, (M. Beug, pers. comm.).

Ramaria rubiginosa is found at least in WA (Marr). There are collections from OR at Oregon State University. There is a collection from BC by O. Ceska at the University of British Columbia.

Fruiting body:
4-17cm wide, 5-18cm high, single or somewhat compound stem, branch systems dividing 3-7 times in a cruciate dichotomous manner, upper branches compressed when young, even in mature fruitbodies internodes longest in lower branches, primary branches 1-3cm wide, upper branches mostly slender, 0.1-1cm wide, "axils acute or turbinate and branches slight to moderately divergent", cusped to finely divided near tips, tips subacute to rounded, (Marr), lower branches thick; branches upper branches with short intervals between forks, (Scates-Barnhart)

Flesh:
fleshy-fibrous when fresh; white, (Marr)

Branch color:
light yellow with bright yellow tips, any part staining +/- winy (reddish brown), (Scates-Barnhart), lower branches ''yellowish white'' to ''light yellow'', terminal branches colored the same or more intensely yellow when young, about ''light yellow'' to ''sunflower yellow'', any part bruising or staining ''reddish brown'', (Marr)

Stem:
single, thick, 2-8cm x 2-6cm, "or subcompound, with two to several thick axes arising from a small primary root-like structure"; base of fresh fruitbody ''yellowish white''; any part of the fruitbody but especially the base bruising or staining ''reddish brown'', (Marr), base thick, any part of fruitbody but especially the base staining +/- winy (reddish brown), (Scates-Barnhart)

Chemical Reactions:
stem flesh inamyloid or very faintly amyloid, (Marr), while the hymenial surface of all Ramarias turn blue-green in FSW, the reaction of the hymenial surface of Ramaria rubiginosa was unusually fast and intense, however the reaction of the stem context is actually only slowly positive to FSW: the strong reaction as recorded in Marr(1) is an error (M. Beug, pers. comm.)

Odor:
not distinctive or faintly sweet, (Marr)

Taste:
not distinctive (Marr)

Microscopic:
spores 7-11 x 3.5-6 microns, average 9.4 x 4.4 microns, cylindric, finely ornamented with lobed, anastomosing warts, these faintly more cyanophilic than the general wall; basidia mostly 4-spored, 42-85 x 7-11 microns, clavate, clampless, inclusions cyanophilic; clamp connections absent, (Marr)

Spore Deposit:
grayish yellow'' (Marr)