Artomyces pyxidatus

Crown-tipped Coral

Scientific identification: Artomyces pyxidatus (Pers.) Jülich
Family: Auriscalpiaceae
Class: Agaricomycetes
Genus: Artomyces

Names across languages

English: Crown-tipped Coral
German: Verzweigte Becherkoralle
Finnish: Kruunuhaarakas
Estonian: Kroonharik
Russian: Артомицес крыночковидный

The scientific profile

From the latest record: 2026-09-19.

Hymenium

Smooth, covering the outer surfaces of the branches; whitish to pale yellowish, becoming tan or faintly pinkish with age

Fruit body

Repeatedly branched, coral- to candelabra-shaped; branch tips characteristically crown-shaped, each ending in a shallow cup surrounded by 3–6 pointed teeth

Hymenium Attachment

Fertile surface continuous over the branches

Stipe

Short basal trunk, whitish to pinkish-brown, finely fuzzy, repeatedly dividing into upright branches

Spore print

Spore print white

Ecology

Saprobic on well-decayed hardwood logs and fallen trunks, especially aspen, poplar, ash; solitary to clustered; summer to autumn

Edibility

Young specimens reported edible, but often tough, peppery or bitter

Fruit body

Fruit body medium; ~4–13 cm tall and ~2–10 cm wide

Flesh

Whitish, tough and pliable, sometimes slowly browning when bruised

Chemical reactions

FeSO₄ negative to greyish or brownish on branches and base

Odour

Faintly earthy, spicy

Taste

Peppery-acrid, bitter

Microscopy

Spores ellipsoid, minutely pitted, hyaline, amyloid, ~4–5 × 2–3 µm; basidia 4-spored; cystidia variably fusoid, cylindrical or clavate; gloeoplerous hyphae present; clamp connections abundant