Ramariopsis avellanea

Detailed description

The arbuscular fruit bodies, which are up to 3 x 1 cm, branch delicately and dichotomously in 2–4 ranks. They arise from small whitish mycelial patches. The erect stipe (stalk) is up to 15 x 2 mm. It is purplish tan to pale dull violet. The lower branches are concolourous but the higher ones are paler. The apices are delicate, to 3 mm long, and awl-shaped. The taste and odour is negligible. The spores are 3.6–4.3 x 2.9–3.2 µm, ovate to ellipsoid. They are thin-walled and hardly roughened. The ornamentation consists of extremely short, sparsely scattered prickles. Fruit bodies are pigmented from the start, and the final colouration is close to that of R. pulchella, which is much more strikingly purple.