page_title: Ramaria araiospora
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Ramaria araiospora / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Fruit bodies of the coral fungus Ramaria araiospora Marr &amp; D.E. Stuntz. Photographed in Gualala, California, USA.
context_page_description: Ramaria araiospora, commonly known as the red coral, is a coral mushroom in the family Gomphaceae. First described in 1974, it is found in North America, and the Himalaya. An edible species, it is sold in local markets in Mexico.
context_section_description: The fruit bodies of Ramaria araiospora typically measure 5–13 cm (2.0–5.1 in) tall by 2–8 cm (0.8–3.1 in) wide. There is a single, somewhat bulbous stipe measuring 2–3 cm (0.8–1.2 in) long by 1.5 cm (0.6 in) thick, which is branched up to six times. The branches are slender, usually about 1–5 mm (0.04–0.2 in) in diameter, while branches near the base are thicker, up to 4 cm (1.6 in) thick. The terminal branches are forked or finely divided into sharp tips. The context is fleshy to fibrous in young specimens, but becomes brittle when dried. The branches are red initially, fading to a lighter red in maturity, while the base, including the stipe, is white to yellowish-white. Branch tips are yellow. When dried, fruit bodies become yellowish white in the base and dull red in the branches. The fruit bodies have no distinctive taste or odor.
  In deposit, the spores are white, cream, or yellowish. They are somewhat cylindrical, ornamented with lobed warts, and measure 9.9 by 3.7 μm. The basidia (spore-bearing cells) are club-shaped, one- to four-spored (although four spores is most typical), and have dimensions of 43–75 by 7–12 μm.  The variety rubella differs from the main type in having slightly more "bluish or crimson" branches in mature specimens, and slightly smaller basidia that measure 30–70 by 6–10 μm.
caption: The red color fades in mature specimens.
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