Clavaria

Clavaria, a genus of Fungi, of the order Hymenomycetes, family Clavariæ, in which the spore-bearing tissue is produced over all parts of the surface. The species are numerous, some of them simple and club-shaped, some branched. C. botrytis, a species common in oak and beech woods, especially in Germany, growing on the ground, among moss, grass, heath, &c., is gathered when young and used as food, having a very agreeable sweetish taste. (Botrytis is also the name of a genus of Ascomycete Fungi.) Other species of Clavaria, notably C. flava, coralloides, aurea, and formosa, are used in the same way. See FUNGI.