Clavariacese 



Height 2-4 in., 2-4 in. across; pale-yellow, dingy-yellow. Stem ciavaria. 

 or trunk short, robust, whitish. Branches very numerous, dense, 

 fragile, erect, straight, lighter than the yellow tips (fading with age) 

 which are toothed. Flesh white. Spores white. Taste and odor 

 pleasant. 



Woods and open places. June to frost. 



Indiana, H. I. Miller; West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 

 Mcllvaine. 



The C. flava and C. botrytes have long been noted edible species, 

 liberally commended abroad and in the United States. Variations in 

 their structure are interchangeable ; variations in their quality are due 

 to environment. There is a slight difference in the measurement of 

 their spores, but the difference is not so great as between spores of the 

 same specimen. Specific differences may exhibit themselves in young 

 plants, yet disappear with age. 



Plants for the table should be young and fresh. When aged or when 

 the ravages of insects appear, they should not be used, as they then 

 have an unpleasant taste which will effect a whole dish. 



They should be cut into small pieces and stewed slowly for fully thirty 

 minutes. They can be seasoned and eaten as a stew or made into 

 patties. 



C. botry'tes Pers. Gr. a cluster of grapes (from shape). Height 

 34 in., 36 in. across, white, yellow, pinkish, dingy in shades of these 

 colors. Base thick, short, fleshy, unequal. Branches many, swollen, 

 thick, crowded, unequal, enlarged at the ends and divided into several 

 small branchlets which are sometimes reddish at tips. Flesh white. 



Spores ellipsoid, sub-transparent, white, 8x5/11, Massee. 



On wood earth. Common. 



New York, Peck, Rep. 24; West Virginia, New Jersey, Mcllvaine. 



A general favorite and highly esteemed in Europe. Edible. Ctirtis. 



"When old the branches both of this species and of C. flava become 

 elongated, obtuse, very fragile, and of a uniform color. The yellow 

 tips of the latter and the red ones of the former species wholly dis- 

 appear." Peck, 32d Rep. 



Excepting when young (not always then) the red tips to the branch- 

 lets can not be relied upon as distinctive features of this species. The 

 place of its growth and the character of the soil have very much to do 



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