Anybody Seen My Focus?: Crown-tipped Coral (Artomyces pyxidatus)

July 6^th. After photographing the Golden-gilled Gerronema mushrooms, I decided not to retrace my steps back to the trail. As I climbed out of the gully on the opposite side from which I entered, I glanced off to my right and saw…

a decaying log with coral fungi that I immediately recognized as the Crown-tipped Coral (Artomyces pyxidatus), formerly called Clavicorona pyxidata. These were impressive enough to warrant sitting in the wet leaves again. The corals ranged from…

large, about 10 to 12 cm tall and 7 to 10 inches wide, with many branches, to…

quite small, 5 to 8 inches tall, narrow, and with only a few branches.

Artomyces pyxidatus may be found widely in the Rocky Mountains and eastern North America but rarely on the West Coast. This fungus grows on wood - usually hardwoods such as maples, Tulip Poplars (Liriodendron tulipifera), willows, and aspens - either alone or in clusters, as in this case.

Fruiting bodies range from 4 to 13 cm in height and 2 to 10 cm wide and may have many branches. Fresh fruiting bodies are whitish and semi-translucent. As they age, they become grayish or yellow in color and opaque, often with brown tips. Their bases may be 1 to 3 cm long but less than 1 cm thick. Their texture is tough and rubbery. The tips of the branches are characteristic of this species; they have a depression that is surrounded by 3 to 6 tips, which resemble crowns; they remind me of medieval castle keeps.

Several species of coral fungi may resemble the Crown-tipped Coral fungus in overall appearance; these include various Ramaria sp., Ramariopsis kunzei, Lentaria micheneri, and Clavulina cristata. Most of these have more...