Clavariaceae.org
Clavulinopsis subgenus
Paraclavaria
This subgenus has always been a bit enigmatic and is not always incredibly well supported but consistently recovered. It is putatively composed of species which produce carotenoid pigments (like in subgenus Clavulinopsis) and produce ellipsoid to somewhat amygdaliform spores with small to medium apiculi (Corner, 1950; Petersen, 1978). The fruiting bodies are also typically on the small and uninflated/compressed range at least when compared to members of subgenus Clavulinopsis and appear similar to members of subgenus Acularia, specifically Cu. laeticolor. The colors are also in the yellow-orange-peach range, tending toward the latter and fade upon drying, which helps distinguish them from otherwise similarly colored and statured members in the Cu. laeticolor complex. The tendency to fade on drying is probably what caused the white apices in the original description of Cu. luteoalba and hence, the name.
All of the current members of this subgenus are southern temperate-subtropical (Australasian and Southern South American) with only one North Temperate clade so far confirmed though seqeuncing but bear in mind this group is poorly known and defined at this time. This raises some interesting questions regarding biogeography and evolution. It will be interesting to see if this pattern holds as more taxa are studied.
The most commonly recognized species are Cu. luteoalba in Europe which goes under the name Cu. gracillima in North America (Cu. gracillima having priority but this synonymy needs further investigation) and Cu. corallinorosacea in Australia and New Zealand.
Phylogeny Reconstructed using the ITS Region
Note that (with all the phylogenies at this point) refinement could change some of the fine scale topology and hopefully future versions will be a little bit tidier when possible. There are also some very long branches in this clade imply either that further sampling will fill these out, there are some aberrant or erroneous sequences, there is some accelerated nucleotide substitution rates in this subgenus, or all of the above.
Click on the taxa labels on the right to go directly to its section.
sp.
sp. NN01
sp.
phoenicea var. persicina
sp.
sp. NN03 'Lake Rotoatua'
sp.
Clavulinopsis corallinorosacea complex
This species is described as pinkish red (pinker than Morrocan Red specifically) species that dries in the more pinkish range on a relatively simple to occasionally branched, often flattened or grooved fruiting body with a distinct sterile portion. It was described by John Burton Cleland, a mycologist and naturalist who also happened to serve as the pathologist in the eerie, unsolved, and infamous "tamám shud/Somerton Man" murder (or was it?). It differs from similarly colored species in subgenus Clavulinopsis based on the elongate as opposed to globose spores and a generally smaller, less inflating/irregular fruiting body.
Distribution: Australasia though it is currently unclear (to me at least) precisely how far beyond southeastern Australia.
Clavulinopsis corallinorosacea NN01
This species is composed of four collections from New Zealand, two of which were ascribed to corallinorosacea (and thus why I am have put it under this name) and two observations identified only to genus. I am not particularly familiar with this Australasian name but it seems that the fruiting bodies of this organism tend to have orange tones more than red, which could potentially be a differentiator. It would be interesting to know if orange tones are common in Australia, closer to the type locality.
Distribution: New Zealand
Verified Occurrences
Click on the collections below to see link to verified observations (if applicable on iNaturalist or Mushroom Observer).
Clavulinopsis gracillima/luteoalba complex
This species complex contains the only members currently known in the north temperate region. They are often confused with species in the Cu. laeticolor complex but the pigment chemistry is quite different and the spores a different in shape and the small size of the apiculus. The colors are typically more in the apricot range rather than the more orange and yellow colors typical of the subgenus Acularia but there seems to be some overlap. The tendency of the specimens to fade paler as well as the negative reactions in iron salts and KOH should help distinguish this in the field.
Petersen (1968) revived the Peck name, Clavulinopsis gracillima for this species (complex) which had been described from England as Clavulinopsis luteoalba. Peck's description is a little odd describing a pale yellow fertile portion with a bright yellow stem which casts some doubt on this synonymy (as pointed out by Corner 1970). Corner, confusingly, considered this name synonymous with Multiclavula clara (a genus he did not accept) though i highly doubt that Petersen would have missed this in his type study but Corner couldn't miss a chance to criticize anything Petersen did.
Given the apparent species level diversity based on the ITS sequences, it may very well be that there is a more yellow species corresponding better to Peck's name leaving the more apricot colored species with the name Cu. luteoalba. Corner recognized quite a bit of diversity in this species, including multiple varieties based on spore dimenions in his monographic supplement (1970) and these may better represent species but, obviously, further research is needed.
Petersen's Clavaria borealis described from Nova Scotia, Canada is almost certainly in this group somewhere but it would be great to examine some recently collections before making the combination. It should be a quite recognizable species being up to 7 cm tall with orange-pink-mauve coloration.
Distribution: The complex is so far known from Eastern and Western North America as well as Europe. Corner (1970) as reports it from North Africa and Japan.
Verified Occurrences
Click on the collections below to see link to verified observations (if applicable on iNaturalist or Mushroom Observer).
Genus | species | Type | Collection | Herbarium | Location | ITS Genbank | Certainty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Clavulinopsis | gracillima/luteoalba NN02 | PK2991 | F15400 (UBC) | CAN-BC | Need | ||
Clavulinopsis | gracillima/luteoalba NN01 | LAS06_159 | GB-0060476 | Sweden | Need | ||
Clavulinopsis | gracillima/luteoalba NN01 | BSI13_147a | BSI13_147a | Switzerland | OP538704.1 | ||
Clavulinopsis | gracillima/luteoalba NN03 | AP43. 35975 | - | USA-IN | ON650114.1 | ||
Clavulinopsis | gracillima/luteoalba PNW01 | INAT142691207 | - | USA-WA | Need |
Clavulinopsis persicina
This handsome species is distinct in its soft orange-pink-peach coloration. What is perplexing is it's placement in subgenus Paraclavaria as the globose spores described in Petersen's monograph (1988) would lead one straight to subgenus Clavulinopsis. It is also odd the a seqeunce from the Holotype collection of "Ramariopsis" depokensis f. persicina is showing up here and a sequence from a Paratype specimen of "Clavaria" phoenicea var. persicina is showing up elsewhere. It is possible the holotype of the former name is a mixed collection, or perhaps there was a labeling mix-up in the laboratory. Either way, there is a confusing situation with nomenclature, micromorphology, and subgeneric placement.
Distribution: New Zealand
Verified Occurrences
Click on the collections below to see link to verified observations (if applicable on iNaturalist or Mushroom Observer).
Genus | species | Type | Collection | Herbarium | Location | ITS Genbank | Certainty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Clavulinopsis | depokensis f. persicina | HOLOTYPE | TFB55832 | TENN-F-043465 | NZ | Need | Possibly |
Clavulinopsis | persicina | PDD 113340 | PDD 113340 | NZ | Need | Possibly | |
Clavulinopsis | persicina | PDD 114050 | PDD 114050 | NZ | Need | Possibly | |
Clavulinopsis | persicina | JAC14861 | PDD 107077 | NZ | Need | Possibly |
Literature Cited:
Corner, E. (1950). A Monograph of Clavaria and Allied Genera. Oxford University Press.
Corner, E. (1970). Supplement to “A Monograph of Clavaria and Allied Genera.” Beihefte zur Nova Hedwigia.
Petersen, R. (1968). The Genus Clavulinopsis in North America. Hafner Publishing Company.
Petersen, R. (1978). Notes on Clavarioid Fungi. XV. Reorganization of Clavaria, Clavulinopsis and Ramariopsis. Mycologia, 70(3), 660–671. https://doi.org/10.2307/3759402
Petersen, R. H. (1988). The Clavarioid Fungi of New Zealand. Science Information Pub. Centre, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.
Additional Notes
Tree in Newick Format
Version: 2309