Clavaria fragilis - White Spindles

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Clavariales

Simple, unbranched clubs but often in bunches, like eels with their tails twisting upwards as they fight over a morsel buried in a riverbed, White Spindles is the most common of the many fairy clubs and corals that pop up in unimproved grassland. (Their worm-like appearance is reflected in their synonym Clavaria vermicularis.)

This, the type species for the Clavaria genus, is easy to spot… but only when it is growing in short grass.

Some club-like and coral-like fungi are ascomycetous, but fairy clubs of Clavaria and related genera belong to the Basidiomycota.

Identification guide

Description	Often somewhat laterally flattened and sometimes longitudinally grooved; sometimes straight but more often wavy; occasionally forked near tips, but most often simple clubs with rounded tips; white, the tips yellowing and eventually turning brown with age. As the specific epithet suggests, these are very fragile club fungi.
Size	The individual stems are typically 2 to 12cm tall and 4 to 5mm across.
Spore print	White.
Odour/taste	Not distinctive.
Habitat	On the ground in unimproved grassland.
Season	June to November.
Occurrence	Common.
Similar species	Clavulinopsis fusiformis has a similar for but is golden yellow.