''Clavulina'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
fungus
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...
in the family
Clavulinaceae
The Clavulinaceae are a family of fungi in the order Cantharellales. The family is not well defined, but currently comprises species of clavarioid (club and coral) fungi as well as some corticioid (crust- and patch-forming) fungi. These specie ...
, in the Cantharelloid
clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...
(order
Cantharellales
The Cantharellales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. The order includes not only the chanterelles (Cantharellaceae), but also some of the tooth fungi (Hydnaceae), clavarioid fungi ( Aphelariaceae and Clavulinaceae), and cortici ...
). Species are characterized by having extensively branched
fruit bodies
The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cyc ...
, white
spore print
300px, Making a spore print of the mushroom ''Volvariella volvacea'' shown in composite: (photo lower half) mushroom cap laid on white and dark paper; (photo upper half) cap removed after 24 hours showing pinkish-tan spore print. A 3.5-centimeter ...
s, and bisterigmate
basidia
A basidium () is a microscopic sporangium (a spore-producing structure) found on the hymenophore of fruiting bodies of basidiomycete fungi which are also called tertiary mycelium, developed from secondary mycelium. Tertiary mycelium is highly-c ...
(often with secondary
septation). Branches are cylindrical or flattened, blunt, and pointed or crested at the apex, hyphae with or without clamps, basidia cylindrical to narrowly clavate, mostly with two sterigmata which are large and strongly incurved and spores subspherical or broadly ellipsoid, smooth, and thin-walled, each with one large oil drop or guttule.
[ The genus contains approximately forty-five species with a worldwide distribution, primarily in ]tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
regions.[ Species of ''Clavulina'' are mostly ecto]mycorrhiza
A mycorrhiza (from Greek μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. mycorrhizae, mycorrhiza or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant ...
l. A recent study has identified Clavulina to the genera level as present on ''Nothofagus menziesii'' adventitious roots[Orlovich et al, 2013 Piracy in the high trees: ectomycorrhizal fungi from an aerial 'canopy soil' microhabitat]
Species
*'' C. alutaceosiccescens''
*'' C. amazoensis''
*'' C. amethystina''
*'' C. amethystinoides''
*'' C. arcuatus''
*'' C. brunneocinerea''
*'' C. caespitosa''
*'' C. cartilaginea''
*'' C. cavipes''
*'' C. cerebriformis''
Distribution
''Clavulina'' species are important primary colonizers of forest litter, and occur immediately after the pre-monsoon showers. Two species of ''Clavulina'' – ''C. coralloides''(known as white or crested coral fungus) and ''C. rugosa'' – have been recorded from the moist-deciduous to evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, Kerala, India.[
]
References