page_title: Gomphus clavatus
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Gomphus clavatus / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: A close-up of the hymenium of Gomphus clavatus (Pers.) Gray. Specimen photographed in the Sieg Conference Center, Clinton Co, PA. Part of the MSA foray, 2008.
context_page_description: Gomphus clavatus, commonly known as pig's ears or the violet chanterelle, is an edible species of fungus in the genus Gomphus native to Eurasia and North America. The fruit body is vase- or fan-shaped with wavy edges to its rim, and grows up to 15–16 cm wide and 17 cm tall. The upper surface or cap is orangish-brown to lilac, while the lower spore-bearing surface, the hymenium, is covered in wrinkles and ridges rather than gills or pores, and is a distinctive purple color. Described by Jacob Christian Schäffer in 1774, G. clavatus has had several name changes and many alternative scientific names, having been classified in the genus Cantharellus, though it is not closely related to them.
  Typically found in coniferous forests, G. clavatus is mycorrhizal, and is associated with tree species in a variety of coniferous genera, particularly spruces and firs. It is more common at elevations of greater than 2,000 ft, in moist, shady areas with plenty of leaf litter. Although widespread, G. clavatus has become rare in many parts of Europe and extinct in the British Isles.
context_section_description: The basidiocarps, or fruit bodies, of immature Gomphus clavatus are club-shaped and have one cap or pileus, but later spread out and have a so-called merismatoid appearance—several vase-shaped caps rising from a common stem. The fruit body is up to 15 cm (6 in) wide and 17 cm (6 ³⁄₄ in) tall, fan-shaped with wavy edges. The upper surfaces of the fruit bodies are covered with brown hyphae (microscopic filaments) that form small, distinct patches towards the margin, but combine to form a continuous felt-like fine-haired area, or tomentum, over the center of the cap. The color of the upper cap surface is orange-brown to violet, but fades to a lighter brown with age. The cap margins of older mushrooms can be quite ragged. The lower spore-bearing surface—the hymenium—is wrinkled, often with folds and pits, and violet to brown in color. The solid stem, which is continuous with the cap, is 0.8–3 cm (³⁄₈–1 ¹⁄₈ in) wide, 4–10 cm (1 ⁵⁄₈–3 ⁷⁄₈ in) tall, and covered with fine hairs that become coarser (hispid) towards the base. It is often compound, with several fruit bodies arising from the basal portion. Fruit bodies may bruise reddish-brown where handled. The flesh can be whitish-pink to lilac or cinnamon-buff. Thick under the center of the cap, it thins out towards the margins. It can be crunchy, though it is softer than that of the chanterelle. The taste and odor are mild. The spore print is yellow to orange-yellow.
  The spores are elliptical, wrinkled or slightly warted, and 10–14 by 5–7.5 μm. They are nonamyloid, meaning they have a negative color reaction with the iodine in Melzer's reagent. The spore-bearing structures, the basidia, are elongated or club-shaped, hyaline (glassy or translucent), and four-spored, with dimensions of 60–90 by 8.5–11.5 μm. G. clavatus does not contain cystidia, the sterile cells associated with basidia in many species. Clamp connections are present.
caption: The wrinkled and ridged surface of the hymenium
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