Patrolling For Ramaria Araiospora

Day 41: Two years ago, I discovered my first specimen of Ramaria araiospora growing in a narrow drainage behind Longmire Meadow in Mount Rainier National Park. It was somewhat darker than this example, and it was so striking that I checked up short and said aloud, "What the heck is THAT?" Further exploration turned up several colonies. I did not observe it in 2012, although I checked the location frequently.

For the last three weeks or so, I've been making lunchtime patrols around the Trail of the Shadows, hoping to find this unusual coral fungus again. Today, I decided to venture outside the immediate location (off trail) and upon cresting a small rise which debouched into a stream gully, my search was rewarded. There were several colonies within an eight-foot radius, and only there.

The subspecies rubella emerges red and gradually fades to pink as the fungus ages. It is singularly striking in appearance, the brilliant color shining like a stop light in the forest. The specimen from which the original description of the species was derived (the "holotype") for Ramaria araiospora was collected in 1967, five miles south of Elbe WA, essentially in my own back yard; therefore I feel a modest proprietary connection with it and would not pick it, although it is considered to be edible.