FAIRY CLUBS OR CLAVARIA. 1 99 



they undoubtedly are, perhaps all of them, but so 

 small as to be of little esteem for the table. Some- 

 times they occur in such plenty that sufficient for a 

 dish may be collected, but it must be a labour of 

 love. The scientific name is Clavaria, which has been 

 freely translated as " fairy club," but only a few of 

 them have a club shape, most of the tufted species 

 being very much branched, after the manner of stag's 

 horns. One species only attains a considerable size 

 and preserves the club shape. Some call it the 

 " Hercules club," and it will attain six or seven inches 

 in length, with a diameter of an inch at the apex. 

 In colour it is of a pale yellowish red, almost a ruddy 

 flesh colour, of the tint sometimes called gilvous, 

 solid, and whitish within, growing singly amongst 

 grass ; attenuated gradually downwards, it resembles 

 the conventional form which is given in pictures and 

 statuary to the club of Hercules. But this Clavaria 

 pistillaris is not by any means a common fungus, and 

 the collector has to be content with the smaller 

 species. One of the most common in pastures and 

 on lawns is the branched Clavaria fastigiata, which is 

 at times so common that a foot can scarcely be set 

 on the ground without crushing it ; so delicate and 

 fragile as hardly to be disentangled from the grass 

 without breaking. 



A snowy-white species, with the clubs simple and 

 undivided, grows in similar places, but is often rather 

 rare. This is Clavaria vermicularis, of which ten or 



