Pterula multifida

It was first described in 1861 by the Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries who classified it as Pterula multifida based on specimens he had found in 1857.

François Fulgis Chevallier's Penicillaria multifida{{Cite book |last=Chevallier |first=François |url=https://numelyo.bm-lyon.fr/f_view/BML:BML_00GOO0100137001101377864 |title=Flore générale des environs de Paris... |year=1826 |edition=1 |pages=111 |language=fr}} may be confused with this in the taxonomic history due to the identical abbreviation of P. multifida. However this is unrelated and Penicillaria multifida is now a nomen superfluum and considered illegitimate.{{Cite web |title=Mycobank Database – Penicillaria multifida |url=https://www.mycobank.org/page/Name%20details%20page/name/%20Penicillaria%20multifida |access-date=27 October 2022 |website=www.mycobank.org}} Penicillaria multifida was a reclassification of Pierre Bulliard's Clavaria penicillata{{Cite book |last=Bulliard |first=Pierre |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/25399#page/37/mode/1up |title=Herbier de la France; ou, Collection complette des plantes indigenes de ce royaume; avec leurs proprie´te´s, et leurs usages en medecine |date=1780 |publisher=Chez l'auteur, Didot, Debure, Belin |volume=433 |location=Paris |pages=448}} and that species did go to be reclassified as another Pterula species however in 1930 when Fries classified it as Pterula penicillata.{{Cite journal |last=Fries |first=Elia |date=1830 |title=Eclogae Fungorum, Praecipus ex Herbariis Germanorum de Scriptorum |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/10849#page/535/mode/1up |journal=Linnaea: Ein Journal für die Botanik in ihrem ganzen Umfange |location=Berlin |publisher=F. Dümmler |volume=5 |pages=532 |via=www.biodiversitylibrary.org}}

Pterula multifida var. densissima was described in 1958 by the Czech mycologist Albert Pilát.{{Cite journal |last=Pilát |first=Albert |date=1958 |title=Übersicht der europäischen Clavariaceen unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der tschechoslowakischen Arten. / Přehled hub kyjankovitých-Clavariaceae se zvláštním zřetelem k československým druhům |url=http://fi.nm.cz/clanek/ubersicht-der-europaischen-clavariaceen-unter-besonderer-berucksichtigung-der-tschechoslowakischen-arten-prehled-hub-kyjankovitych-clavariaceae-se-zvlastnim-zretelem-k-ceskoslovenskym-druhum/ |journal=Sborník Národního Musea V Praze Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae |language=cs-CZ |volume=14B |issue=3–4 |page=146 |access-date=27 October 2022}} The citation he gave for this variant was 'B. et C. 1873' and in the same text he also wrote 'Pterula densissima Berk. et Curt. 1873' which has led to Pterula densissima being listed as a synonym of Pterula multifida. However the taxonomic records for this likewise have some citation errors so they remain unclear.

Pterula multifida is a small whitish coral fungus with a delicate branching structure.

Fruit body: 1-5mm thin, hairlike coral that branches repeatedly towards the smooth and shiny pointed tips. The colour is white to off white to light brown with the tips having a lighter colour than the base. Stem: 0.05–0.1mm when present but sometimes absent. Flesh: White. Tough and rubbery. Spore print: White. Spores: Ellipsoid and smooth. 5–6 x 2.5–3.5μm. Taste: Indistinct. Smell: Indistinct or unpleasant like urea or chemicals.{{Cite book |last=Buczacki |first=Stefan |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/793683235 |title=Collins fungi guide |date=2012 |publisher=Collins |isbn=978-0-00-724290-0 |location=London |pages=452–453 |oclc=793683235}}

The specimens observed by Fries were found growing on sprigs of Spruce on the ground in the Uppsala Botanical Garden, Sweden in 1857.{{Cite book |last1=Kungl. Svenska vetenskapsakademien. |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/52760#page/39/mode/1up |title=Öfversigt af Kongl. Vetenskaps-akademiens forhandlingar |last2=vetenskapsakademien |first2=Kungl Svenska |date=1861 |publisher=P. A. Norstedt & Söner |location=Stockholm |pages=31}}{{Cite book |last=Fries |first=Elias Magnus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rUA-AAAAcAAJ |title=Monographia Hymenomycetum Sueciae |date=1863 |publisher=Leffler |pages=282 |language=la}}

In 1873 this species was included in Charles Montague Cooke's list of British fungi citing a specimen documented by Miles Joseph Berkeley and Christopher Edmund Broome which had been communicated to them by Walter Calverley Trevelyan.{{Cite journal |last1=Berkeley |first1=M.J. |last2=Broome |first2=C.E. |date=1871 |title=Notices of British Fungi |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/81026#page/444/mode/1up |journal=The Annals and Magazine of Natural History; Zoology, Botany, and Geology |location=London |publisher=Taylor and Francis, Ltd |volume=7}} However it was noted that they were 'unable at present to meet with a description of this plant'.{{Cite journal |last=Cooke |first=M. C. |date=1872 |title=British Fungi |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/30137#page/142/mode/1up |journal=Grevillea |location=London |publisher=Williams and Norgate |volume=1 |pages=116}}

This species is not commonly recorded in the United Kingdom but has been found in Berkshire, East & West Norfolk, Northamptonshire, North Somerset, South Devon, Surrey, Warwickshire and Glamorganshire in Wales. It occurs on damp soil and leaf litter in woodlands and has been found growing on the fallen catkins of Salix species (willow trees) and on needles from Picea species (spruce). It has also been found on the dead stems of the grass species Juncus subnodulosus, ferns such as Polystichum and on the dead stems of Rose and Rubus fruticosus (blackberries).{{Cite web |title=Checklist of the British & Irish Basidiomycota – Pterula multifida (Chevall.) Fr., Monogr. Hymenomyc. Suec. (Upsaliae) 2: 282 (1863) |url=http://www.basidiochecklist.info/DisplayResults.asp?intGBNum=7509 |access-date=27 October 2022 |website=www.basidiochecklist.info}} It grows solitary or in small trooping groups from late Summer to Autumn in England.

{{As of|2022|October}}, GBIF has around 1,250 recorded observations for this species with most being from Europe.{{Cite web |title=Pterula multifida (Chevall.) Fr. |url=https://www.gbif.org/species/2540716 |access-date=25 October 2022 |website=Global Biodiversity Information Facility |language=en}} However many of there are just observations from citizen science platforms and lack evidence to confirm. Due to the similarities with other Pterula species some may also have been confused.

The specific epithet multifida derives from the Latin multifidus meaning 'with many divisions'.{{cite book |last=Harrison |first=Lorraine |title=RHS Latin for gardeners |publisher=Mitchell Beazley |year=2012 |isbn=9781845337315 |location=United Kingdom |pages=224}}

• Pterula subulata is described very similarly.

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Category:Pterulaceae

Category:Fungi described in 1861

Category:Fungi of Europe

Category:Fungus species