Ramaria aurea
Picture source: Wikimedia commons
Clavaria aurea Schaeff.
Corallium aurea (Schaeffer per Fries)
Golden coral
Golden clavaria
Goldgelbe Koralle (German)
Kuřátka zlatá (Czech)
Fruit bodies: up to 10 cm high, up to 7 cm wide, repeatedly branched; yellow or ochraceous.
Stem: single to fasciculate, stout, smooth, elastic, white or near-white, usually with more than one fruit body formed from a single point. Major branches numerous, concolorous to stipe
Spores: sub-cylindrical, rough in outline 8-15 x 3-6 µm.
Spore deposit: ochreaceous.
Habitat: grows on the ground in mixed woods.
Edibility: avoid-causes gastrointestinal disturbances in some individuals.
This species is similar in appearance to several of the other Ramaria, and usually examination of microscopic characteristics is required for absolute identification. See Petersens' paper (1974) for a detailed description of microscopic features.
Ramaria aurea (as Clavaria aurea) from Burt's paper (1922).
Another view of the golden coral.
Source: Dave Powell, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org
Anti-tumor properties
Polysaccharides extracted from the mycelial culture of R. aurea and administered intraperitoneally into white mice at a dosage of 300 mg/kg inhibited the growth of Sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich solid cancers by 60% (Ohtsuka et al., 1973).
Web
George Barron's fungi website has a page on the golden coral.
References
Burt EA.
The North American species of Clavaria with illustrations of the type specimens.
Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 1922 9(1):1-78.
Ohtsuka S, Ueno S, Yoshikumi C, Hirose F, Ohmura Y, Wada T, Fujii T, Takahashi E.
Polysaccharides having an anticarcinogenic effect and a method of producing them from species of Basidiomycetes.
UK Patent 1331513, 26 September 1973.
Petersen RH.
Contribution toward a monograph of Ramaria. I. Some classic species redescribed.
Am J Bot. 1974 61(7):739-748.
Razaq A, Shahzad S.
Ramaria aurea, a new record from Pakistan.
Pakistan J Bot. 2005 37(2):493-4.
Last modified: 13-Aug-2008
