Clavulinopsis fusiformis is a clavarioid fungus in the family Clavariaceae. In the UK, it has been given the recommended English name of golden spindles. In North America it has also been called spindle-shaped yellow coral[1]orgolden fairy spindle.[2]Clavulinopsis fusiformis forms cylindrical, bright yellow fruit bodies that grow in dense clusters on the ground in agriculturally unimproved grassland or in woodland litter. It was originally described from England and is part of a species complex as yet unresolved.[3]
The fruit bodies of Clavulinopsis fusiformis are cylindrical, bright yellow, up to 150 x 10 mm, growing in fasciculate (densely crowded) clusters. Microscopically, the hyphae are hyaline, up to 12 μm diameter, with clamp connections. The basidiospores are hyaline, smooth, globose to subglobose, 4.5 to 7.5 μm, with a large apiculus.[7]
In European grasslands, Clavulinopsis helvola, C. laeticolor, and C. luteoalba have similarly coloured, simple fruit bodies but are typically smaller and grow singly or sparsely clustered. The uncommon Clavaria amoenoides produces densely clustered fruit bodies but they are pale yellow and, microscopically, lack clamp connections.[8]
The species was initially described from England and is common throughout Europe. Its distribution outside Europe is uncertain because of confusion with similar, closely related species in the complex.[3]Clavulinopsis fusiformissensu lato has been reported from North America,[7] Central and South America,[9] and Asia, including Iran,[10] China,[11] Nepal,[12] and Japan.[13]
The species typically occurs in large, dense clusters on the ground and is presumed to be saprotrophic.[14] 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 fusiformis is one of the commoner species and is not currently considered of conservation concern. Elsewhere, C. fusiformis sensu lato occurs in woodland. In China it is one of the dominant macrofungal species found in Fargesia spathacea-dominated community forest at an elevation of 2,600–3,500 m (8,500–11,500 ft).[11]
^Corner EJH (1970). Supplement to 'A monograph of Clavaria and allied genera'. Beihefte zur Nova Hedwigia. Vol. 33. Lehre, Germany: J. Cramer. p. 10.
^Saber M. (1989). "New records of Aphyllophorales and Gasteromycetes for Iran". Iranian Journal of Plant Pathology. 25 (1–4): 21–26. ISSN0006-2774.
^ abZhang Y, Zhou DQ, Zhao I, Zhou TX, Hyde KD (2010). "Diversity and ecological distribution of macrofungi in the Laojun Mountain region, southwestern China". Biodiversity and Conservation. 19 (12): 3545–3563. doi:10.1007/s10531-010-9915-9. S2CID24882278.
^ abChristensen M, Bhattarai S, Devkota S, Larsen HO (2008). "Collection and use of wild edible fungi in Nepal". Economic Botany. 62 (1): 12–23. doi:10.1007/s12231-007-9000-9. S2CID6985365.
^ abFurukuwa K, Ying R, Nakajima T, Matsuki T (1995). "Hemagglutinins in fungus extracts and their blood group specificity". Experimental and Clinical Immunogenetics. 12 (4): 223–231. PMID8919354.
^Roberts P, Evans S (2011). The Book of Fungi. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. p. 494. ISBN978-0226721170.
