The green-tipped coral, Ramaria apiculata.
Synonyms
Clavaria apiculata Fr.
Clavaria densissima Peck
Clavariella apiculata (Fr.) P. Karst.
Common name
Green-tipped coral
Cha houki take modoki (Japanese)
Description
Fruiting body: highly branched; 4-10 cm high, 2-10 cm across; branches dull buffy-tan or darker, sometimes tinted bluish-green or green (hence the common name); bruising reddish-brown.
Stem: short, branching several times in an irregularly dichotomous manner into erect, slender, rather crowded and nearly parallel branches, terminating in 2-3 dentate tips
Flesh: tough, solid, white, darkening when cut
Spores: minutely roughened, with a cyanophilous warts; ellipsoid with a squared tip; 7-10 x 3.5-5 µm.
Habit and habitat: grows in sparse to dense clusters on wood or on ground in association with rotting coniferous debris such as cones, twigs and needles. Summer and fall.
Medicinal properties
Anti-tumor effects
Polysaccharides extracted from the mycelial culture of R. apiculata and administered intraperitoneally into white mice at a dosage of 300 mg/kg inhibited the growth of Sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich solid cancers by 70% and 60%, respectively (Ohtsuka et al., 1973).
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Links
There’s a variety of pictures at Josef Hlasek’s site.
References
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.
