Ramaria capitata var. capitata (Pale cauliflower coral)

A Ramaria capitata fruit body is a highly branched ‘coral fungus’. It may grow to 10 centimetres tall. The branch tips are swollen (except possibly in immature specimens) and may fuse, so making each branch resemble a cauliflower branch. Two sub-specific varieties have been described: var. capitata (branches pallid to cream coloured, pale buff or yellow to orange yellow; branches grouped to give a terrace like appearance) and var. ochraceosalmonicolor (branches salmon-pink to apricot-pink; the whole fruit body compact and overall very cauliflower-like).

Young & Fechner (see references) say: (1) that the apices of the latter variety may be buff, yellowish buff, orange or reddish tinted and (2) in var. capitata viscidity is usually very evident and persistent but in the other it is absent or transient. However, even normally viscid fruit bodies may lose their viscidity in dry conditions.

Spore print (both): yellowish brown.

Both are found on the ground amongst leaf litter in native forests.

There are other Ramaria species with rounded branch apices, but they lack the swollen apices.

References

A. M. Young & N. A. Fechner. (2007). Australian coralloid fungi I – Ramaria capitata, Australasian Mycologist, 26, 37-50.

The website of the Queensland Mycological Society has detailed descriptions of the two varieties, capitata at http://qldfungi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ramaria-capitatavcap.pdf and ochraceosalmonicolor at http://qldfungi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ramaria-capitatavoch.pdf.