Ramaria testaceo flava (Bres.) Corner Fruit body up to 14cm high, 9cm wide; several major branches ascending or laterally compressed in luxuriant material, subdividing into 3-5 ranks of smaller branches with cusped tips that lengthen into "fingers" in age; branches light chocolate brown bruising darker, tips golden yellow to buff-yellow. Base up to 50 x 30mm, single or falsely clustered, especially in deep moss; white bruising chocolate brown; smooth, hoary or covered with mycelium. Flesh solid, dry; white, slowly bruising brown when cut. Odor none or mildly pleasant or earthy. Taste mildly or moderately bitter, sometimes astringent. Spores ellipsoid, ornamented with scattered low warts, 9.5-14 x 4.2-6.4µ. Deposit yellow-ochre. Clamps present. Habitat on the ground under hemlock or mixed conifers. Found in western and eastern North America. Season August-September. Edibility not known -avoid, many Ramarias can cause stomach upset. |