Ramaria invalii (Invalli's Coral)

Ramaria invalii

On fallen, rotting conifer needles, especially under spruces. Summer, autumn.

Fruiting bodies shaped like a small bush, coral or shrub, 3-8 cm tall, dichotomously or irregularly branched, ochre, yellowish-ochre, when old ochre-brown in colour. Going upwards the bush widens, the branches divide, become denser, thinner and more pointed, and are sharply branched at the tips. Stem short, paler than the branches. Flesh white, later yellowish, with an unpleasant smell and bitter taste. Grows in groups or even colonies on spruce needles in forests, especially spruce forests, and also in mixed forests. Young mushrooms are edible. Very common. The Greening Coral (R. ochraceo-virens) is very similar, only it differs in its greenish-ochre fruiting bodies with a violet tinge. Edible