About Clavogaster virescens (Massee) J.A.Cooper
The cap, or pileus, of Clavogaster virescens forms an elongated pouch that measures approximately 20 × 60 mm. The cap is powder blue, purplish blue, or greenish in color, with a surface that can be smooth and glabrous, or pitted and furrowed. It is sometimes long and quite narrow, and usually tapers toward the apex. The base of the cap may attach to the stem before becoming free as it lifts slightly away, or it may remain attached and transition smoothly into the stem. The pouch has a somewhat rubbery and cartilaginous texture, and it becomes very slippery when wet. The stem of Clavogaster virescens is whitish to yellowish, often with a more vibrant yellow color toward the base. It is solid, smooth, and stout, widening toward the pouch, and is often short. The stem surface is sometimes a little shiny or reflective, and has a smooth or slightly slippery texture. Inside the pouch, the gleba are enclosed within a purple-brown, sack-like layer inside the pouch wall. The gleba form a regular, chambered cell-like structure, are laterally compressed, and are colored brown, reddish brown, or lighter red; they are rarely rust-coloured or orange. Fruitbodies grow in forests on rotting wood on or near the forest floor, growing solitary or in small to large scattered groups. Clavogaster virescens is found on both the North and South Islands of New Zealand, but is more common in the North Island, especially in the Wellington and Auckland regions. It occurs scattered to gregariously in forests, growing from rotting wood near or on the ground.
