Ramaria rubrievanescens Marr & D.E. Stuntz
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:
Features of Ramaria rubrievanescens include 1) white to cream color or pinkish beige except for primordial branch tips that are pink, the pink color disappearing with maturation or within a day of picking, 2) massive white stem discoloring yellowish and bruising maroon, 3) fall fruiting, 4) cyanophilic ornamentation of conspicuous striae [stripes], and 5) clamp connections. Note that some Ramaria rubrievanescens specimens including the spring ones were later classified by Petersen(3) as Ramaria rubripermanens, (see SIMILAR section for Petersen''s criteria).
Chemical Reactions:
stem flesh amyloid, but "reaction may be slow (?)", (Marr), stem flesh weakly amyloid, (Scates-Barnhart), stem flesh strongly dextrinoid (see note under Ramaria rubripermanens for details on the color of the reaction in this group), (Petersen(3)), IKI positive slowly, green-purple, branch sections in ferric sulphate in water green but reaction not intense, (Petersen(12)), ferric sulphate in water on stem context negative, (Exeter)
Odor:
faintly sweet (Marr), negligible (Petersen(12))
Taste:
slightly similar to nuts (Marr), faintly bitter, acrid [peppery] on tongue, (Petersen(12))
Microscopic:
spores 11-13 x 4-5.5 microns, average 11.7 x 4.9 microns, mummy-shaped, ventral surface curving sharply to the apiculus, cyanophilic ornamentation of conspicuous striae; basidia mostly 4-spored, occasionally 2-spored, 55-87 x 8-11 microns, clavate, clamped, containing strongly cyanophilic globules; clamp connections present, (Marr), spores 10-13 x 3.5-5.5 microns, average 11.77 x 4.41 microns, (Scates-Barnhart), spores 10.4-13.7 x 4.0-4.7 microns, average 11.77 x 4.41 microns, mummy-shaped, ornamentation of delicate closely spaced striae in an abaxial-distal to adaxial-proximal orientation, contents with one to several dark, lobed inclusions, wall up to 0.2 microns thick, apiculus gradual, with no throat; basidia 4-spored, 55-65 x 7-8 microns, clavate, clamped, contents homogeneous; clamp connections present, (Petersen(12))
Spore Deposit:
light yellow'', (Marr), "light salmon orange", (Petersen(12))
Notes:
Collections were examined from WA, (Marr, September, October). Distribution includes WA, Oregon, California, and eastern North America, (Castellano, who includes spring collections). There are collections from BC at the University of British Columbia.
EDIBILITY
yes, choice, (Scates-Barnhart)
Habitat and Range
SIMILAR SPECIES
Ramaria rubripermanens 1) is rather variable in color (with tips varying from pallid or pale pink through shades of dull red to dull fleshy maroon), 2) does not stain on stem, and 3) fruits in spring and fall, while R. rubrievanescens 1) is always pink to pallid pink over tips at first, 2) always shows rufescent stem surface, and 3) fruits only in fall, (Petersen(3)). R. rubripermanens has branch tips that retain their color, whereas those of R. rubrievanescens fade rapidly, (Trudell). Ramaria botrytis var. botrytis may also have reddish terminal branches, stout form, and striate spores, but the spores are longer, 11-17 x 4-6 microns, (Marr). See also SIMILAR section of Ramaria velocimutans.Habitat
terrestrial, in forest of Tsuga heterophylla (Western Hemlock), September and October, (Marr), on ground in conifer forests, spring or fall, (Scates-Barnhart), fruits in humus or soil and matures above ground, associated with Pinaceae spp., June, September, October, (Castellano), but Petersen(3) reclassifies spring specimens (see SIMILAR)