=Clavaria formosa= Pers. =Edible.=--This is one of the handsomest of the genus. It is found in different parts of the world, and has been collected in New England and in the Carolinas in this country. It is usually from 15--20 cm. high, and because of the great number of branches is often broader in extent. There is a stout stem from 2--4 cm. in diameter, deep in the ground. This branches into a few stout trunks, which then rapidly branch into slender and longer branches, terminating into numerous tips. The entire plant is very brittle, and great care is necessary to prevent its breaking, both before drying and afterward. When the plant is young and is just pushing out of the ground, the branches, especially the tips, are bright colored, red, pink, or orange, the color usually brighter when young in the younger plants. As the plant becomes older the color fades out, until at maturity the pink or red color has in many cases disappeared, and then the entire plant is of a light yellowish, or of a cream buff color. The spores are in mass light yellow, and the spores on the surface of the plant probably give the color to the plant at this stage. The spores are long, oval or oblong, 10--15 × 2.5--3 µ, and are minutely spiny. Figure 201 is from a plant (No. 4343, C. U. herbarium) collected at Blowing Rock, N. C., in September, 1899. The plant is very common in the mountain woods of North Carolina. [Illustration: FIGURE 203.--Clavaria pistillaris. Dull whitish, tan or reddish (natural size).] Specimens of this Clavaria were several times prepared for table use during my stay in the mountains, but the flavor was not an agreeable one, possibly due to the fact that it needs some special preparation and seasoning. =Clavaria botrytes= Pers. =Edible.=--This plant is much smaller than _C. formosa_, but has much the same general habit and color, especially when _C. formosa_ is young. The plant has a stout stem which soon dissolves into numerous branches, which are red tipped. The spores are white, and in this way it may be distinguished from _C. formosa_, or from _Clavaria aurea_ (Schaeff.), which has yellow or ochre spores, and which has also much the same habit as _C. botrytes_, and is nearer in size. [Illustration: FIGURE 204.--Clavaria mucida. White (natural size). Copyright.]