Fruiting body small to medium. Basidiomata 2.0-6.5×0.3-0.5cm, unbranched, gregarious, in a cluster, whitish to cream, cylindric, becoming flattened, often flexuous; apex acute, sometimes blunt when mature; stipe 0.3-0.5×0.2-0.3cm, slightly narrow, translucent. Odor and taste not distinctive. Basidiospores 4.8-5.6×2.2-3.8µm, ellipsoid, hyaline, smooth, thin-walled, inamyloid; Basidia 28-42×6.5-8.8µm, clavate, with 4 sterigmata. Cystidia not observed.
Specimens examined
India, Maharashtra, Kolhapur, Panhala, Padsali, (16°42ʹ22ʺN-74°50ʹ37ʺE), on soil, amongst leaf litter, in cluster, 21.06.2021, Bornak, S. I., (Y21V3C8); Panhala, Kaurwadi, (16°44ʹ11ʺN-74°58ʹ42ʺE), on soil, in group, 23.09.2021, Bornak, S. I. (Y21V10C2).
Remarks:
This species is the type species for the genus and is edible. White and brittle basidiomata make Clavaria fragilis easy to identify. This species resembles with Clavaria pampeana however, it has smaller basidiomata, subglobose and larger basidiospores and clamped basidia with sterigmata (Furtado, et al., 2016). The similar species is Clavaria acuta but differs by the presence of clamp connections. Previous records of C. fragilis from Europe, North America, China, Japan, Java, South Africa, Australia, and India indicate that the species is cosmopolitan in distribution. In India this species has been reported from Mussoorie (Himachal Pradesh), Uttarakhand and West Bengal (Verma and Pandro, 2018 and Acharya, et al., 2017). This is a new report to Maharashtra state.
References:
Furtado, A.N., Daniels, P.P. and Neves, M.A. (2016). New species and new records of Clavariaceae (Agaricales) from Brazil. Phytotaxa. 253(1):1-26. DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.253.1.1
Verma, R.K. and Pandro, V. (2018). Diversity and Distribution of Clavarioid Fungi in India, Three Fungi from Central India. Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci 7(12): 2129-2147
Acharya K., Sikder, R. and Dutta, A. K. (2017). Physiochemical characterization and antioxidant activity of methanol extract from an edible mushroom Agrocybe pediades. International Journal of ChemTech Research, 10(3): 204-211.