British Clavariae. A . D. Cotton & E. M. Wakefield. 169 



A. Plants Branched. 



I. Plants zcjJien mature more or less yellow isli, spores ochraceous. 



(a) Plants large, up to 10 or 15 cm. high ; spores 9-20/^ long. 



I. Clavaria flava Fr., Syst. Myc. i. p. 467; Maire in Bull. 

 Soc. Myc. Fr. xxvii. 191 1, p. 450. 



C. flava Pers., Comment, p. 43; Ramaria coralloides flava 

 sen lutea Holmsk., Beata ruris, 1790, p. 117; C. sanguinea Pers., 

 Obs. Myc. ii. 1799, p. 61, tab. 3, fig. 3; C. lutca Venturi, Mic. 

 Bresc. tab. 41, fig. 4. 



Illustrations: Holmsk., Fung. Dan. i. tab. 31; Pers., Obs. 

 Myc. ii. tab. 3, fig. 3; Schaeff., Icon. Fung. tab. 175; Barla, 

 Champ. Nice, tab. 40, fig. 5; Bres., Fung. Mang. tab. 100; 

 Fries, Sver. Atl. Svamp. tab. 26; Schaeff., Icon. Fung. tab. 175 ; 

 Vittadini, Fung. Mang. tab. 29, figs. 2, 3; Venturi, loc. cit. 



Plants large, branched, 8-13 cm. high, fleshy, fragile, ochra- 

 ceous, becoming paler on dr^ang and reddish when bruised; 

 smell pleasant, taste mild. Stem thick, white or tinged reddish. 

 Branching irregular or irregularly dichotomous, repeated, axils 

 acute, not flattened; branches slender, cylindrical, erect, solid, 

 smooth or slightly wrinkled, apices blunt or pointed. Flesh 

 white, soft. Internal structure of slightly interwoven hyphae, 

 8-12 /x in diameter, sub-parench37matous in transverse section. 

 Basidia 45 x lo/x, finely granular; sterigmata 4, erect. Spores 

 pale ochraceous in the mass, almost hyaline by transmitted 

 light, narrowly elliptical, incurved at the base, walls slightly 

 granular, 11-^14 (-15) x 4-5 /x. 



Habitat. On the ground, in both coniferous and frondose 

 woods. 



Rare. Specimens from Morpeth (C. H. Spencer Perceval, 

 1906, 1909); Bodmin (A. D. C, 1906); Tobermoray, Isle of 

 Mull (A. D. C, 1910); New Forest (G. Massee, 1903, and 

 [Lyndhurst] A. D. C, 1916). 



Of the three large species of Clavaria found in Britain this 

 is the least rare. It appears to be not infrequent also on the 

 Continent, at all events in France and Switzerland. It is 

 found in both coniferous and frondose woods (especially beech), 

 where it occurs either isolated or in groups as a pale fragile 

 plant, with a marked tendency to become reddish at the base 

 or when bruised. The colour is pale ochraceous, paler and 

 yellower than in C. formosa, which has a tendency to become 

 dull pink. 



The correct identity of the three species, C. flava Pers., 

 C. formosa Pers., and C. aiirea Fr. is a very perplexing problem. 



