Clavulinopsis miniata (Berk.) Corner

Common name: Flame Fungus.

Description: This brilliant orange to flame-orange coral fungus is spectacular. The fungus can be up to 10 cm high and forms simple or occasionally branched clubs that may also be flattened. The flesh is usually a paler tint of the surface colour and its texture is waxy to slightly tough. It occurs in small or large colonies in which the fruiting bodies may be single or aggegated into small tufts.

The spores measure 57 × 46.5 µm and are broadly ellipsoidal, smooth and colourless but white in mass.

Substratum: Clavulinopsis miniata is found on soil among litter or moss, usually in damp, sheltered conditions and often under tree ferns in eucalypt forests.

Distribution: Known from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.

Notes: This species is common and very easily recognised by its beautiful flame-orange colours. R.H.Petersen (1988), in his work on the New Zealand coral fungi, suggested that the genus Clavulinopsis was, in his opinion, better placed as a subgenus of Clavaria. He further indicated that not only should this species be called Clavaria miniata but that it was the same as Clavaria aurantia. For the present, the species is given its most widely known name, Clavulinopsis miniata.