Thelephora anthocephala growing in a mixed coniferous-deciduous forest in northern Minnesota, USA.
Thelephora anthocephala growing in a bed of Polytrichum moss in a mixed coniferous-deciduous forest near a vernal pool. Some years the fructifications are abundant and large. Although it has a coral-like structure it is not closely related to other so-called coral fungi.
Update: I went back to this spot in late September 2018 and the fungus was there again fruiting but a little smaller and not so richly colored.
''Thelephora anthocephala'' is a species of coral fungus in the family Thelephoraceae. It was originally described as new to science in 1786 by French botanist Jean Baptiste François Pierre Bulliard, who placed it in the genus ''Clavaria''. Elias Fries transferred it to ''Thelephora'' in his 1838 work ''Epicrisis Systematis Mycologici''.
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