Clavulina kunmudlutsa

A coral fungus named by the people who eat it

Clavulina kunmudlutsa is a coral-shaped fungus of the order Cantharellales. Henkel, Aime and colleagues described it as a new species in 2011 in Mycologia, from specimens collected in the Pakaraima Mountains of Guyana. The epithet kunmudlutsa is the Patamona name for the fungus, and the species was described alongside a second new species, C. tepurumenga, which the same authors also described as food for the Patamona.

The authors call both species important edible fungi for the Patamona Amerindians. That is the only food statement in the abstract. The abstract gives no preparation, cooking method, quantity or consumption detail, and the full text of the Patamona use was not available in the sources read.

Where it grows

The species is ectomycorrhizal, which means it grows in partnership with the roots of trees. The sources name the host as Dicymbe corymbosa, a legume tree of the genus Dicymbe. It favours white-sand soils in forests dominated by Dicymbe trees. The fungus is recorded as wild, and no cultivation is described.

Its range is stated differently across sources. The 2011 description places it in the Pakaraima Mountains of Guyana. Other databases also list an occurrence in Colombia, and one reports three sites in Guyana and one in Colombia. This page treats Guyana as the documented food region and does not extend the food use to Colombia.

Identity and the name in older studies

Unidentified Clavulina records in older studies cannot be assumed to be this species; the catalogue flags the same caution.

The authors also report sequence data (ITS and 28S rDNA) for the new species. The name is a research label and has not been checked against a current taxonomic authority. A closely related species, C. sprucei, has been recorded again in Guyana after a gap since 1853.

Safety and identification

No edibility verdict for the general public follows from the sources read. The published statement is that the Patamona eat the fungus. It is not a safety assessment, it does not give preparation that makes it safe, and it does not establish the species' toxicity profile.

Anyone considering eating a coral fungus should have the specimen confirmed by a specialist, and should not rely on a visual match or a catalogue entry.

Open questions

The sources read give no account of how the Patamona gather, cook or store the fungus, no local food context beyond the statement of use, and no conservation status beyond the IUCN data-deficient rating mentioned in secondary sources. The next research question is what the local preparation is, and whether a Guyanese ethnobotanical record documents it.