Clavulinopsis corniculata

Clavulinopsis corniculata is a clavarioid fungus in the family Clavariaceae. In the UK, it has the recommended English name of meadow coral. It forms branched, cylindrical, ochre fruit bodies that grow on the ground in agriculturally unimproved grassland or in woodland litter. It was originally described from Germany and is part of a species complex as yet unresolved.

Taxonomy
The species was originally described from Germany in 1774 by German mycologist Jacob Christian Schäffer. In 1950, it was placed in the genus Clavulinopsis by English mycologist E.J.H. Corner. Initial molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences, indicates that C. corniculata is part of a complex of related species.

Description
The fruit body of Clavulinopsis corniculata is ochre to deep yellow, up to 45 mm tall, typically branched two or three times, with a distinct, often paler stem. Microscopically, the basidiospores are hyaline, smooth, globose to subglobose, 4.5 to 6 by 4.5 to 5.5 μm, with a large apiculus.

Similar species
In Europe, Clavulinopsis umbrinella is a similarly shaped species in the same habitat, but is typically pale brown without yellowish tints. Some species of Ramaria sensu lato are yellow to ochre and similarly shaped. They typically occur in woodland and can be separated by their ochre (not white) spore print.

Distribution and habitat
The species was initially described from Europe, with a recent epitype from Slovakia. It is widely distributed throughout Europe, but has also been reported from North America, Central and South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia.

The species occurs singly or in troops on the ground and is presumed to be saprotrophic. In America and Asia it grows in woodland, but in Europe it generally occurs in agriculturally unimproved, short-sward grassland (pastures and lawns). Such waxcap grasslands are a declining and threatened habitat, but Clavulinopsis corniculata is one of the commoner species and is not generally considered of conservation concern.