Red Coral

Appearance

The fruit bodies of ''Ramaria araiospora'' typically measure 5–13 cm tall by 2–8 cm wide. There is a single, somewhat bulbous stipe measuring 2–3 cm long by 1.5 cm thick, which is branched up to six times.

The branches are slender, usually about 1–5 mm in diameter, while branches near the base are thicker, up to 4 cm thick. The terminal branches are forked or finely divided into sharp tips.

The context is fleshy to fibrous in young specimens, but becomes brittle when dried. The branches are red initially, fading to a lighter red in maturity, while the base, including the stipe, is white to yellowish-white. Branch tips are yellow. When dried, fruit bodies become yellowish white in the base and dull red in the branches. The fruit bodies have no distinctive taste or odor.

In deposit, the spores are white, cream, or yellowish. They are somewhat cylindrical, ornamented with lobed warts, and measure 9.9 by 3.7 μm.

The basidia are club-shaped, one- to four-spored, and have dimensions of 43–75 by 7–12 μm. The variety ''rubella'' differs from the main type in having slightly more "bluish or crimson" branches in mature specimens, and slightly smaller basidia that measure 30–70 by 6–10 μm.

Distribution

The species is primarily known from the Pacific Northwest region of North America, although it has been reported from Kansas. Variety ''rubella'' has been collected in the eastern Himalaya and Mexico.

Habitat

Although it is not known with certainty, the species is probably mycorrhizal. Fruit bodies grow on the ground singly or scattered, under conifers, especially western hemlock, and deciduous trees, particularly tanoak. Fruiting usually occurs in September and November.