About this fungus
Apricot Club is a fungus in the Clavariaceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
A small grassland fungus forming slender, usually unbranched apricot-orange clubs, commonly in groups among grass or moss.
What to check
Look for simple cylindrical to slightly flattened clubs with rounded tips that are often paler or whitish. There are no gills, pores, cap, ring or volva. Colour and form are not enough for certainty because close grassland clubs are separated by spore shape and other microscopic features.
Variation
Fruit bodies range from pinkish apricot to orange-yellow and may become paler towards the tip. They can be slender or rather short and crowded.
Lookalikes
Clavulinopsis helvola and C. laeticolor can be very similar but differ microscopically. C. fusiformis usually forms brighter yellow, densely tufted clubs. Branched fruit bodies suggest Meadow Coral or another clavarioid species rather than Apricot Club.
Habitat and range
Most often recorded on nutrient-poor grassland, lawns, dunes and heaths, sometimes in open woodland, growing from soil or moss. Its habitat varies regionally and grassland records should not be treated as proof of species.
Food safety
Inedible.
Photographs
Riet van Oosten / CC0Species to compare
Similar mushrooms to compare against: