Mucronella bresadolae
Supplement to "A Monograph of Clavaria and Allied Genera": 172. 1970.
Common Name: none
Synonym: Mucronella alba Lloyd
Fruiting body, 2.0-7.0 mm tall, approximately 1.0 mm thick simple, slender, tapered above and below, appearing spindle-shaped, round in cross section, solid, the upper portion fertile; surface glabrous, whitish, on a short inconspicuous, narrowed sterile base, the latter cream-yellow, minutely hairy when viewed with a hand lens; fruiting bodies typically clustered, hanging from a lignicolous substrate; odor indistinct; taste mild.
Spores 4.5-6.0 x 3.5-4.5 µm, subglobose, broadly ellipsoid to tear-shaped, smooth, thin-walled, hilar appendage inconspicuous, amyloid; spore deposit not seen.
Single to densely clustered on well-decayed conifer wood; fruiting during the mid-winter months.
Unknown, too small to be of culinary value.
Looking much like a miniature Hericium erinaceus, and possibly distantly related, this tooth fungus is easily recognized by its inverted growth form and lignicolous habit. Though not rare, it is seldom found, except by collectors combing downed logs for inconspicuous polypores, mycenas, etc. An interesting aspect of this fungus is the presence of crystals in the hyphal tissue, many of which are tetrahedral in shape.
Breitenbach, J. & Kränzlin, F. (1986). Fungi of Switzerland. Volume 2: Non-Gilled Fungi. Verlag Mykologia: Luzern, Switzerland. 412 p.
Corner, E.J.H. (1970). Supplement to "A Monograph of Clavaria and Allied Genera". Beih. Nova Hedw. 53: 1-299.
Desjardin, D.E., Wood, M.G. & Stevens, F.A. (2015). California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide. Timber Press: Portland, OR. 560 p.
Ryvarden, L. (2024). Hydnoid Genera - A World Synopsis. Fungiflora: Oslo, Norway. 71 p. (PDF)
Siegel, N. & Schwarz, C. (2016). Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast. Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, CA. 601 p.
