Ramaria ochraceosalmonicolor (Cleland) Corner

Common name: None.

Description:

Ramaria ochraceosalmonicolor forms large, sometimes massive coralloid clusters up to 15 cm high and wide. These structures are bright salmon on the branches but ochre-salmon at the tips. The fungus is densely branched but the tips are rounded and very compact so that it resembles a pinkish brown cauliflower. The flesh is white and brittle. The stem base is concolorous with the stems and branches.

The spores measure 811 × 45.5 µm, and are ellipsoidal, slightly roughened and light brown in mass.

Substratum:

The fungus grows directly on soil among litter in eucalypt forests or rainforests where there is eucalypt or scrub box invasion at the margins. Usually solitary or sometimes in loose groups.

Distribution:

Known from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

Notes:

No other Australian species of the coral fungi has this massive cauliflower-like structure.