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Identifying different coral mushrooms


Debdee

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Found growing in sandy soil in a mixed pine oak forest in North Florida (Panhandle). I would really appreciate if someone could tell me not only which Ramaria this is, but also what characteristics enable you to make the ID. Thanks so much in advance!

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The short crowded branches with stubby tips and beige color seem to match R. botrytis, except the tips of the branches are the same color as the rest of the fruit body. Descriptions of R. botrytis mention pinkish/reddish tips. Maybe this is a young one and the tips have not yet darkened...?

Champignons du Quebec includes a description of R. cinereocarnea (in French) that seems to fit the specimen seen here. C du Q also mentions R. strasseri as being similar, but I can find little information on this species.

Ramaria fruit bodies are mostly very difficult to pin down to species.  C du Q documents around 50 species. The Wiki list appears to include over 200 species names. The botrytis "types" have large spores with reported lengths topping out between 17 and 20 microns (although C du Q says R. strasseri has smaller spores). So, you may be able to make some headway with a microscope. Also, color-change reactions with chemicals like KOH or iron salts can be helpful with Ramaria ID. Spore print color for Ramaria species are yellow to orangish. So --aside from verifying genus Ramaria-- you don't typically get much info from the spore print. (Other genera of Coral Fungi mostly have white spore prints.) 

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