Our Edible Toadstools and Mushrooms and How to Distinguish Them / A Selection of Thirty Native Food Varieties Easily Recognizable by their Marked Individualities, with Simple Rules for the Identification of Poisonous Species

by W. Hamilton Gibson

THE CORAL OR CLUB FUNGUS

Clavaria

A neglected feast

What frequenter of the summer and autumn woods has failed to observe that occasional dense cluster of creamy-colored, coral-like growth such as I have indicated at [Plate 30], and who has thought to gather up its fragile, succulent mass with designs on the cook? I have seen clusters of this fungus so dense and ample as to strikingly suggest a huge cauliflower, and representing many pounds in weight. But in the absence of popular appreciation it must needs decay by "whole hundred-weights" in the woods.

This is the Clavaria, or coral fungus—more literally translated, though less appropriate to this particular species, "club fungus"—a representative of a genus containing many edible species.

The one presented in the Plate is Clavaria formosa, or the elegant Clavaria. It grows from four to six inches in height, is deep creamy yellow or pale orange buff in color, and slightly reddish at tips of branches. It has a sweet taste, a fragile, brittle consistency, and white substance; its spores are pale-ochre colored. Curtis gives thirteen edible native species. Among them are the following, which hardly call for severe technical description, as the entire group are doubtless edible:

THE WHITE CORAL FUNGUS

Clavaria coralloides

The true "coral fungus"—Clavaria coralloides—of our woods resembles C. formosa in general shape, but its color is white, or perhaps pale gray. Its thick stem is hollow, and its uneven, crowded branches are brittle and flesh-white. Its odor is like that of the Agaricus campestris, and it possesses a sweet, pleasant flavor. Cordier recommends it as eatable even when raw. This species is in great favor in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, where it is desiccated for winter use.

PLATE XXX
THE CORAL FUNGUS

Clavaria formosa

Thickly branched from a stout pale base, the dense branchlets being tipped with two or three minute teeth.

Color: Saffron yellow. Tips generally darker and more rosy.

Flesh: White.

Spores: Ochre-tinted.

Taste: Sweet, tender, and delicate.

Height: Four to six inches.

Habitat: Woods.

PLATE XXX

Clavaria Formosa.

Plate XXXI.—VARIOUS FORMS OF CLAVARIA.

Clavaria fastigiata

Clavaria fastigiata is a somewhat dwarf variety, usually found on lawns and pastures, seldom reaching a height of more than two inches. In general aspect it resembles Fig. 3 in Plate 31. It is of a yellow color, very densely branched from its short, slender stem close to the ground, the branches mostly terminating at the same height.

White-spored species edible

All of the above-mentioned species, except C. formosa, have white spores, and while none of the genus is considered poisonous, though some are so bitter and of such tough consistency as to make them unfit for food, it is generally conceded among the authorities that all white-spored Clavarias are certainly edible. The spores are easily obtained by simply laying the fungus upon a dark surface and excluding the air, as directed in a later chapter.

The various forms assumed by the Clavarei are indicated in Plate 31.

Fig. 1 is C. flava; 2. C. stricta; 3. C. umbrina; 4. C. rugosa; 5. C. amethystina. Any specimen bearing resemblance to any of these in form, and which is found to have white spores, may be eaten without fear.

The Clavaria forms a most inviting relish by the simple process of frying in butter, with seasoning to taste. They have the advantage of being quite free from "fungus-worms," and in the larger species are occasionally so plentiful that a half-bushel may be gathered in a few moments.

Another species bearing the general shape suggested in Plate 31, fig. 1, is the C. botrytis. It has a thick, fleshy trunk and swollen branches. Its substance is very brittle; color creamy-yellow, with red-tipped branchlets. It is found in woods.