Clavulinopsis luteoalba - Apricot Club

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Commonly known as the Apricot Club, Clavulinopsis luteoalba (syn. Clavaria luteo-alba) is a relatively common fairy club fungus of short turf meadows and of lawns and parks that are mowed (or grazed) but not treated with herbicides or fertilisers. This species is inedible.

The colour varies considerably, and some specimens are a deep orange while other are 'apricot' or even paler.

Apricot Clubs have been recorder throughout Britain, but in Ireland there are far more records of this species in the north than in the south; this may simply be because more people in the north report their finds to the recorders.

Identification guide

Description	This pale-tipped, slender fingers of this glassland fairy club fungus are yellow, often with an orange tinge and of more or less constant diameter, sometimes tapering inwards at the base.
Size	The individual clubs are typicaly 1 to 4mm in diameter and 3 to 6cm tall.
Spore print	White.
Odour/taste	Odour slightly musty; taste not distinctive.
Habitat	Growing from the soil in short grassland.
Season	July to November.
Occurrence	Fairly common.
Similar species	Clavulinopsis fusiformis is similar in size and colour but does not have pale club tips and usually forms much more dense tufts; its clubs are lateraly compressed and sometimes forked.