Ramariopsis kunzei

A clavarioid fungus with coral-like fruit bodies, abundantly branched from a common base, 3 to 10 cm high, white to pale yellowish ochre with development, with bifurcate branches ending in slightly tapered tips, very fragile and brittle in consistency, without distinct odor or taste.

Subhymenial hyphae cylindrical, hyaline, thin- to slightly thick-walled, 3 to 5 µm wide; contextual hyphae arranged more or less parallel, 12 to 15 µm wide; in both cases septate and with clamp connections.

Cystidia absent.

Basidia clavate, 25 to 40 µm long, 4 to 7 µm wide, with basal clamp connections and two sterigmata 4 to 5 µm long (two-spored).

Spores subglobose to ellipsoidal, small, hyaline, echinulate with spines up to 0.4 µm, with an apiculus at one end, 3.5 to 5 µm long, 3 to 4.5 µm wide, densely covered with small spines or fine warts, containing a large oil droplet or guttule inside, and slightly dextrinoid in Melzer's reagent.

Herbarium material available: JTP2722/26.