North Island: UNP, 26.v.82, coll. RHP, no. 43571, 43567 (TENN); UNP, Black Beech Track, 23.v.81, coll. EH, no. 43211(TENN); UNP, Lake Ruapani Track, 25.v.82, coll. RHP, no. 43570, 43572 (TENN); WR, Mill Bay, 6.vii.81, coll. EH, no. 1065 (ZT); WR, 26.v.65, coll. RFRM, no. 36 (PDD); Upper Hutt, Kaitoke Waterworks, 17.vi.81, coll. RHP, no. 42485 (TENN); Auckland, Mill Bay, 3.vi.82, coll. RHP, no. 43566 (TENN); Auckland, Titirangi,17.vi.65, coll. RFRM, no. 55 (PDD); Auckland, Henderson, 30.vi.65, coll. RFRM, no. 71 (PDD); Auckland, Nihotupu, 13.vi.65, coll. Mead, RFRM no.52 (PDD); Akatarawa, vic. Upper Hutt, 20.vi.75, coll. Stevenson, no. 247 (WELTU); Wellington, Botanic Gardens, 31.iv.74, coll. Stevenson, no. 97 (WELTU). South Island: PSR,19.v.82, coll. RHP, no. 43569 (TENN); PSR, 21.v.82, no. 43568 (TENN); FGNP, Track to Mt Fox, 8.iv.83, coll. Ross Beever, no. 44135 (TENN).

Fruit bodies up to 5 cm high, up to 3 mm thick, simple clubs, gregarious to cespitose in small groups of up to three individuals, fusiform to subcylindrical. Club opaque, tapering slightly upward, bright rosy pink ("peach-red", "scarlet", "grenadine-red", "salmon-orange"). Stipe poorly delimited from hymenium, not expanded below; stipe apex concolourous with club ("scarlet", "grenadine-red"), becoming orange then peach downward ("orange-chrome", "capucine-yellow", "salmon-orange", "light salmon-orange", "pale orange-yellow", "light orange-yellow").
Taste and odour negligible.
Tramal hyphae of club 2-6 µm diam., hyaline, clamped (but with common unclamped septa), thin-walled, adherent, uninflated, parallel, involving some acicular crystalline material. Hymenium thickening, maturing slowly and well below club apex; basidia 35-50 x 6-7 µm, clavate, clamped, yellow-refringent under phase contrast; sterigmata 4, slender, curved-divergent.
Spores 5.6-7.7 x 3.5-4.9 µm, ellipsoid to amygdaliform, often narrowed apically, smooth, thin-walled; contents opalescent, refringent under phase contrast; hilar appendix small, subpapillate, inconspicuous.

This species has been discussed more fully elsewhere (Petersen 1969). It is striking in the field and should be confused with no other. Clavaria phoenicea var. persicina approximates its colours, but produces globose spores.
Dried fruit bodies change colour to fleshy ochre, just as those of many other taxa, but often a hint of darker, brighter colour remains on the upper stipe and/or lower club, perhaps as a result of bruising during picking. Otherwise, micromorphology must be relied on for sure separation of species when the fruit bodies are dry.