The C group of grassland fungi stands for Clavariaceae. Traditionally this has been the Fairy Club group but recent molecular work has complicated things. A number of genera of gilled fungi are now members of the Clavariaceae so there may be some surprises in this selection. The new Clavarioid genera are Camarophyllopsis, Hodophilus and Lamelloclavaria. A new paper is about to be published reviewing European species of Camarophyllopsis and the numbers of species to look out for is going to jump! The record from last year of Lamelloclavaria petersenii from the Curragh may need to be reviewed when this paper comes out.
Soil eDNA work suggests there are many more Clavarioids present than we currently know about so this is a group that could be change significantly in the future so any odd looking species should be collected and dried. The species or collections of species that we would particularly like specimens of are:
Camarophyllopsis atrovelutina or Dark Velvet Fanvault
One of the new “gilled” Clavarioids, this species is found commonly in eDNA samples but only very occasionally as fruiting bodies. There are no Irish records.
Camarophyllopsis atrovelutina Photo by David Harries
Camarophyllopsis schulzeri or Matt Fanvault
Also used to be in the “D” group, it has a dark brown cap and stipe with adnate to very slightly decurrent gills. The spores are noticeably small and the cap cuticle is quite different to a waxcap being a trichoderm with enlarged end cells. Only known from Knocklayd, Colebrook church in Fermanagh and Seskinore in Northern Ireland.
Camarophyllopsis schulzeri Photo by David Harries
Any Violet Coral
The species that we have called the Violet Coral or Clavaria zollingeri is now known to be one of two different species, Clavaria amethystina or Clavaria violaceopulchra. The original type specimen of Clavaria zollingeri was re-examined and was discovered to have clamps which means it is a Clavulinopsis, not Clavaria. Further more, as the type came from Indonesia, when it was sequenced, it was discovered to be different to the European collections and there were two different species in Europe. The difference comes down to spore shape with C. amethystina having ellipsoid spores which C. violaceopulchra has subglobose spores. It demonstrates the importance of keeping specimens. I have looked at specimens from Divis and Linford Barrows both in Antrim and they are both C. amethystina and Mark Wright has just identified C. violaceopulchra from Shankill Graveyard in Lurgan and found by Anthony McCluskey last year.
Clavaria amethystina from Divis Mountain
Ellipsoid spores of Clavaria amethystina
Subglobsose spores of Clavaria violaceopulchra. Photo by Mark Wright
Any Pink club
The pink clubs are usually single clubs that are maybe clumped i.e. a lot of single clubs growing together but are more usually found singly. We have very few records of pink clubs from Ireland with Clavaria incarnata only having three records, none in Northern Ireland. However, there are now other similar species that are difficult to separate and these records may be misidentified. We have a few records of Clavaria messapica from Fair Head, Binevenagh and the Curragh and then the very curious find below came from an NIFG foray at Knockdhu in 2024. The sequence comes out not near anything else. So, in reality, any pink club needs to be collected and sequenced. Emma Williams in Wales has noticed that pink clubs are often found near to Meadow Waxcaps but being small, they need carefully searched for.
Mystery pink club from Knockdhu. Photo by Roy Anderson
Any brown or grey clubs, single or clumped
There are again a number of brown or grey clubs, some single, some clumped but there are very few Irish records of these. There are records of Clavaria atroumbrina from a BMS foray in Fermanagh and the Curragh in 2025. Any brown club is a rarity and should be collected and dried.
Clavaria atroumbrina from the Curragh
Clavaria atroumbrina (photo taken in Wales)
Clavaria calabrica
We had the first British record of this species from Little Deer Park near Glenarm in 2022. It is like a Smoky Spindles, Clavaria fumosa but with branching tips. Any specimen will need sequenced.
Clavulinopsis trigonospora
This could be a tricky one to recognise as it is quite similar to the other yellow unbranched clubs. Under the microscope, it is recognised by very distinctive triangular spores. I am not sure if the lumpy nature of the specimen in the photograph below is typical.
Clavulinopsis trigonospora from England. Photo by Simon Harding
Clavulinopsis aff. trigonospora
I have called this “aff. trigonospora” as the spores have odd shapes but the sequences suggest it is different. See Waxcap Ireland 2025 Results – Fairy Clubs for more information. This shows the importance of always looking at the spores of yellow clubs!
Any white sparsely branched coral
For a long time, we called the densely branched white corals Ramariopsis kunzei but this has turned out to be a different species, Ramariopsis robusta. R. kunzei s. str. is a thinner smaller species with less branches. We don’t know if we actually have it in Ireland so it would be good to check. However, there are other sparsely branched white corals e.g. R. subtilis. That can be separated by spore size but that needs to be measured.
Ramariopsis kunzei s. str. from England. Photo by Simon Harding
Ramariopsis minutula from Mount Stewart. Photo by Mo Rainey
Ramariopsis pulchella
Possibly more typically a woodland species than from grassland, it was found at Linford Barrows so it may be found in grassland as well. It is like the Violet Coral but is very sparsely branched. Under the microscope, the spores are small and warty.
Ramariopsis pulchella. Photo by Debbie Nelson
Any Hodophilus
This is a tricky little group that is now known to have a lot more species than originally thought. They are small, often with thick decurrent gills. They can have drab brown colours, sometimes a very yellow stipe and sometimes a spotted stipe. Some can smell very strongly. All need carefully checked so if you see any, please keep. We had some special ones recently – the first British record of Hodophilus phaeophyllus from near Glenarm, and a number of records of H. anatinus from Cloughey Dunes, the Marlbank, Ballycoos Hill and the Curragh, a possible first British record of H. phaeoxanthus from Downhill and then H. variabilipes from Castleroe Wood. Then on a NIFG foray at Divis, a small specimen with a yellow stipe was found. This is now away in Slovakia being described as a new species!
Hodophilus anatinus
The undescribed Hodophilus from Divis