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Page number:166 
Description type:Non-original description 
Description:Ramaria eumorpha (Karsten) Corner, Ann. Bot. Mem. 1:575.1950.
= Clavariella spinulosa subsp. eumorpha Karsten, Bidr. Kann. Finl. Nat. Folk 37:185. 1882. = Clavariella eumorpha (Karsten) Karsten, Bidr. Kann. Finl. Nat. Folk 48:388. 1889.
Fruitbodies up to 10 x 4 cm, fusiform in outline. Stipe up to 4 x 1.5 cm, single, white to off-white, often weak at substrate level, dissipating into a tangle of rhizomorphs; rhizomorphs pallid yellow to off-white, slender (up to 0.2 mm thick), copious, easily disarticulated; flesh off-white, solid, soft, drying soft, friable, leaching apricot color in 3% KOH. Major branches 2-3, acutely ascending, ochraceous brown ("ochraceous tawny"), more or less terete. Branches in 2-5 ranks, erect, sometimes somewhat convergent upward, terete, ochraceous brown to fleshy ochraceous ("ochraceous tawny," "ochraceous buff"); internodes diminishing gradually upward; axils rounded to- narrowly rounded. Apices awl-shaped, dichotomous, ochraceous yellow ("honey yellow," "Naples yellow"). Odor and taste negligible.
Macrochemical reactions: NOH, KOH = bronze, leaching yellow or apricot respectively; FCL, ANW, PHN, GUA = strongly positive; CRE, SYR, ANO, PYR = weakly positive.
Stipe tramal hyphae 3-10 µm diam, hyaline, clamped, thin (rarely)- to thick-walled (wall up to 0.5 µm thick), tightly interwoven, not agglutinated or adherent; ampulliform inflations abundant, not always as clamp connections, subspherical, up to 18 µm broad, thick-walled (wall up to 1.2 µm thick), unornamented; gloeoplerous hyphae not observed. Tramal hyphae of upper branches 3-15 µm diam, hyaline, clamped, thin- to thick-walled (wall up to 0.5 µm thick), tortuous, tightly interwoven, not agglutinated or adherent; ampulliform inflations not observed; gloeoplerous hyphae rare, as undelimited lengths, 2-4 µm diam, yellow-refringent. Hµm enium thickening; basidia 42-50x 8-10 µm, clavate, clamped; contents multiguttulate at all ages; guttules yellow-refringent, clearly delimited, larger in mature basidia; sterigmata 4, slender, peripheral.
Spores 7.6-9.4x 4.0-5.0 µm (E = 1.79-2.36; Em = 2.03; Lm= 8.74 µm), broadly paremecioid, lacrµm iform, to ellipsoid, rough in profile; contents obscurely multiguttulate; wall up to 0.2 µm thick; hilar appendix gradual, curved; ornamentation of numerous scattered small spines up to 0.6 µm high.
Commentary: Petersen (1981) offered a modern description of the taxon, plotting a distribution over the temperate North Temperate Zone in North America, Europe and western Soviet Union. It is to be expected in northern coniferous forests. Neither Teng (1939) nor Tai (1979) reported it by name, but Tai listed several fungi easily mistaken for it. A few differences can be found between the northern Chinese specimens and the species generally. Most serious is Petersen's (1981) report of negative reaction with GUA, which contradicts the data above. Petersen's report was based on data from only a few collections, and the data above comes from a single specimen (TENN 47440), so both must be treated accordingly.
Spores of Chinese specimens are somewhat larger than those of the species overall, but not significantly larger than some specimens from Scandinavia (cf. Petersen, 1981: Table 9). Specimens fruiting in deep moss often show an unusual weakness of stem tissues, breaking off in the process of gathering. This was true of both Chinese collections.
Specimens examined: Jilin Province, Antu County, Chang Bai Shan, spruce-fir forest, 20.VIII.87, coll. RHP, no 47440 (TENN); same general location, 19.VIII.87, coll. RHP, no 47451 (TENN).
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