Club & Coral Fungi Simple upright forms — clubs, fingers, and branching coral shapes
Club and coral fungi share a simple body plan: upright, unbranched clubs or repeatedly branching, coral-like structures. No cap, no gills, no pores — the spore-producing surface covers the entire outer surface of the fruitbody. The group spans multiple lineages that arrived at similar forms independently.
These are common forest fungi in the Pacific Northwest, though many are small and easily overlooked. The candy club is one of the few that draws foragers’ attention — it’s edible and distinctly sweet. Most clubs and corals are too small, tough, or bland to eat. A few (Xylaria, Tolypocladium) are functionally and ecologically fascinating even if not culinarily interesting.
Scout Old-Growth Conifer Habitat
Club and coral fungi are most diverse in mature conifer forests. Use ecoregion data and public land overlays on Forayz to find mature conifer forest, free with a Forayz account. Pro adds tree species maps.
Notable PNW Species
Candy Club — Clavariadelphus truncatus
The best-known club fungus. 2–15 cm tall and 2–8 cm across the top, club-shaped with a broad, flattened top. Wrinkled and vertically ridged, bright orange to yellow-orange or ocher, often paler on the sides. The flesh tastes saccharin-sweet, an unusual trait among fungi, and KOH turns the surface bright red. Scattered in duff or moss, fruiting in fall; widespread but rarely in large numbers. Edible in moderation — some people report stomach upset from large amounts. Genetic work shows several undescribed Clavariadelphus species in Cascadia.
Strap-Shaped Club — Clavariadelphus ligula
2–10 cm tall and slender, cylindrical to club-shaped, often wrinkled. Yellowish to straw-yellow, without red tones. Troops of them come up under conifers in duff, moss or soil. Found fairly often east of the Cascade crest, seldom elsewhere. Fall. Edible but bland and fibrous.
Clustered Club — Clavariadelphus caespitosus
Slender clubs 3–10 cm tall in fused clusters, grayish red to dull red — the reddish color separates it from the strap-shaped club. Grows under conifers in moss and duff. Not common; most finds are in old-growth forest west of the Cascades. Fall. Edible.
Purple Spindles — Alloclavaria purpurea group
Slender, unbranched clubs 3–10 cm tall in clusters, purple to lilac or purplish gray, fading with age. Grows on bare sandy soil or moss-covered sand: locally common on forested coastal dunes, where it can fruit by the thousands under spruce, occasional at high elevations in the Cascades, and rare elsewhere. Late fall into winter. Edible. Western North America seems to have two species under this name; the west-side one may be Alloclavaria nebulosoides.
White Coral Fungus — Clavulina coralloides
Many upright branches forking from a common base, 2–7 cm tall, cream to white, with finely crested tips when young. Clustered in moss or duff under conifers; found widely, and plentiful in places. Fruits in fall, with some persisting into spring at lower elevations. Edible. Long called Clavulina cristata; western North America has several unnamed species in this group.
Handsome Club — Clavulinopsis laeticolor
Simple clubs 2–10 cm tall and thin, bright yellow-orange to gold. Usually single or scattered, occasionally in clusters (clustered fruitings have often been misnamed C. fusiformis, golden spindles). In duff and moss in many forest types, especially under western redcedar. Fall into winter. Edible.
Candlesnuff Fungus — Xylaria hypoxylon
Thin, tough, wiry fruitbodies 2–8 cm tall, cylindrical at first, then forking into antler shapes. Black below, with whitish powdery tips when young. In troops on stumps, logs and woody debris of hardwoods, especially alder; very common, and found year-round. An ascomycete. Edibility unknown. (Dead man’s fingers is a different, thicker Xylaria.)
Snaketongue Truffleclub — Tolypocladium ophioglossoides
3–10 cm tall, with a dark golden-brown to nearly black, finely pimpled head on an olive to blackish stem, and golden cords at the base that lead underground to the deer truffle (Elaphomyces) it parasitizes. The truffle is easy to miss because the stem usually breaks off above it. An ascomycete. Uncommon, across western Cascadia, typically in hemlock forests. Late summer into winter. Edibility unknown.
Jelly-antler — Calocera viscosa
Bright golden-yellow, forked or antler-shaped branches 1–7 cm tall. It looks like a coral fungus but is a jelly fungus: rubbery rather than brittle. Grows on rotting conifer wood, sometimes buried. Common, especially in western Cascadia, from early fall into spring. Edibility unknown. The rare Ramariopsis crocea is similar but more orange, with brittle flesh, growing from soil. (See also the Jelly Mushrooms page.)
Club or Coral? Texture Tells
True coral fungi (Ramaria, Clavulina, Clavariadelphus) are brittle and fleshy — snap a branch and it breaks cleanly. Jelly “corals” like Calocera viscosa are rubbery and elastic — bend a branch and it springs back. This texture test is the fastest way to tell them apart in the field.
Habitat & Season
Most club and coral fungi grow on the ground in conifer duff and moss. The exceptions: purple spindles grow in sandy soil, especially on coastal dunes; the candlesnuff fungus on hardwood, especially alder; the jelly-antler on rotting conifer wood; and the snaketongue truffleclub from underground truffles in hemlock forests. The handsome club is especially common under western redcedar. Most fruit in fall; purple spindles and the handsome club continue into winter, the jelly-antler into spring, and candlesnuff is found year-round.
Track Fall Fruiting Conditions
Clubs and corals fruit with the fall rains. Use rainfall and soil moisture layers on Forayz to time your fall forays. Free with a Forayz account.
Sources: Mushrooms of Cascadia (Siegel & Schwarz, 2024); MycoMatch (© Ian Gibson), a compilation of published descriptions through which most other field-guide authors named here are quoted.