Yellow coral fungus

It is disputed. Some sources call it edible but mediocre, but the look-alikes Ramaria formosa and R. pallida cause diarrhoea and cramps. It should not be eaten unless the species is confirmed.

Saçak mantarı is a general Turkish name for coral-shaped fungi in Clavaria and Ramaria. Tellice is used for the yellow species Ramaria flava, but locally it can cover other species too. Some local sources also use saçaklı mantar for the poisonous violet crown cup (Sarcosphaera coronaria), a cup with a violet inside that looks nothing like coral.

It has no cap: many upright lemon-yellow branches from a thick white base, branch tips that bruise reddish, and an orange-yellow spore print.

In Turkey the name gelin parmağı is also used for Ramaria pallida, which is regarded as poisonous. One name covering several species is what makes coral fungi risky.

From late summer to late autumn; European sources give July to November.

On the ground in beech and mixed broadleaf woods, in partnership with tree roots. In Turkey, coral fungi are gathered especially around Tosya in Kastamonu.

No. It lives in partnership with tree roots (mycorrhizal), so it cannot be grown from spawn or a kit.

Some of the Ramaria species gathered under the name tellice are poisonous and cause diarrhoea and cramps. Ramaria flava itself is disputed; we treat it as inedible.

In regional recipes tellice is boiled, drained and then sautéed. Boiling does not make the toxic Ramaria species safe; do not cook it until the species is certain.

We know of no proven health benefit of tellice and make no such claim. Its edibility is disputed.

Tellice is not a single species; it is a folk name for many species of the coral-shaped genus Ramaria. The yellow Ramaria flava is the one most often meant.

Some coral fungi are eaten, but several Ramaria species, including look-alikes of the yellow coral fungus, cause vomiting and diarrhoea, and they are hard to tell apart. We do not eat coral fungi, and we treat tellice as a mushroom to photograph, not to cook.

Besides the yellow coral fungus, common coral fungi include the crested coral (Clavulina coralloides), the white coral, the violet coral (Clavaria zollingeri) and the crown-tipped coral (Artomyces pyxidatus). Together they are called clavarioid fungi.

The name is used for fungi that look like coral but are not the edible kind: the yellow staghorn (Calocera viscosa), a tough, sticky jelly fungus on conifer wood, and the salmon coral (Ramaria formosa), which upsets the stomach. We do not eat any coral-shaped mushroom without a certain species identification.

In our calendar, yellow coral fungus season runs Jul–Nov. The yellow coral fungus fruits from late summer to late autumn; European sources give July to November.

It grows on the ground in beech and mixed broadleaf woodland, forming mycorrhizal partnerships with the trees, often in groups.

There is no verified Turkish record of the yellow coral fungus on GBIF or iNaturalist. About 20 Ramaria species are recorded in Turkey; coral fungi are gathered and sold in the Black Sea region, especially around Tosya in Kastamonu. Which species a market bunch belongs to usually cannot be confirmed without a microscope.

Yellow coral fungus can be confused with salmon coral (Ramaria formosa, poisonous), pale coral (Ramaria pallida, poisonous), cauliflower fungus (Sparassis crispa, edible species) and violet crown cup (Sarcosphaera coronaria, poisonous). Look-alikes are compared on this page.

In Turkish, yellow coral fungus (Ramaria flava) is called Tellice mantarı; other local names include saçak mantarı, saçaklı mantar, gelin parmağı and pürçek.