About this fungus
Yellow Club Fungus is a fungus in the Clavariaceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
Small yellow to orange-yellow clubs growing among short grass or moss, usually singly or in loose groups rather than as a branching coral.
What to check
The fruit body is narrow, simple and normally unbranched, with no separate cap, gills or pores. Exact confirmation depends on microscopy: the spores are rounded and conspicuously spiny.
Variation
Colour ranges from bright yellow to orange-yellow. Clubs may be straight, curved or slightly flattened, and overlapping fruit bodies can give a false impression of branching.
Lookalikes
Several yellow Clavulinopsis species are extremely similar. Golden Spindles often forms dense bundles, Apricot Club is usually more orange and other small yellow clubs may differ mainly in their spores. A photograph is often sufficient only for a yellow-club group identification.
Habitat and range
Most often found in old, low-nutrient grassland, lawns, churchyards, heaths and mossy places. It can also occur in open woodland. Its wider distribution includes Europe and other temperate regions.
Food safety
Inedible.
Species to compare
Similar mushrooms to compare against: