Patagonian changle

What it is

Ramaria patagonica is a coral fungus, a branched mushroom of the genus Ramaria. The species name is Ramaria patagonica (Speg.) Corner, in the family Gomphaceae. Spegazzini first described it as Clavaria patagonica in 1882, and some databases still list the synonym Clavulinopsis patagonica.

The type material is not settled. GBIF gives the Chilean type as MLP LPS 19261, while the Chilean checklist gives LPS 19262, and the checklist also cites a separate Argentine type. The original Spegazzini publications should be checked before the type history is relied on.

Where it grows

The Chilean checklist records the species across southern Chile, from Malleco to Magallanes. In Argentina, research on Patagonian wild edible fungi places it in the Chubut, Rio Negro and Neuquen provinces, growing in association with native Nothofagaceae forests. Accounts describe it in association with those trees only.

Food use

Regional guides in Patagonia list the species as an edible native fungus, known as changle, that is typically cooked and eaten in autumn. The guides are the basis for the food use recorded here; they do not give a recipe, a quantity or a market figure.

The accounts do not record a food use in Chile, so the Chilean distribution is given on this page without any food claim.

Laboratory work

A table in a review of coral fungi lists the species in a laboratory study of antioxidant activity, measured as DPPH radical scavenging, in an Argentinian study from 2016. That result is a property of extracts in a test tube. It says nothing about safety or benefit when the fungus is eaten.

Safety and identification

The available accounts give no species-level safety verdict for Ramaria patagonica. At genus level, the main recorded risk is gastrointestinal distress rather than serious poisoning, and several Ramaria are easily confused with mildly poisonous species. Identification of a coral fungus in the field should be confirmed by a qualified mycologist before anyone eats it.

A different South American species, Ramaria flavobrunnescens, is linked to livestock poisonings, and its toxic agent is not yet described. That finding concerns another species and does not show that R. patagonica is toxic, but it is a reason to avoid treating every local coral fungus as safe.

Open questions

The accounts reviewed do not give a preparation method, a cooking time, a test of toxicity in this species, or a Chilean food record. The type-specimen conflict above is also unresolved.