Gomphus clavatus (Fr.) S. F. Gray Fruit body 2.5-10cm wide, up to 15cm high, compressed and partially fused, the cap flat with a sunken center and wavy margin; violet becoming yellowish buff; smooth, moist then dry, felty becoming scaly on the disc. Fertile undersurface shallow, wrinkled, sometimes with folds or pits; violet when young, becoming duller and more brownish in age. Stem 10-50 x 10-20mm, very short, often curved, sometimes fused with adjacent stems; buff to pale lilac; smooth to minutely hairy. Flesh solid; whitish to pale pink. Odor none or faintly earthy. Taste mushroomy. Spores ellipsoid to narrowly ovoid, warty, 10.3-15.5 x 4.3-7µ. Deposit ochre to dark olive-buff. Habitat growing singly or in overlapping clusters or arcs or circles of up to 40 fruiting bodies, under conifers. Common in the Pacific Northwest, rarer in the East. Found in northern California and northern North America. Season August-October. Edibility questionable-some people get severe gastric upsets from it, others find it excellent.