Fruit bodies up to 9 x 5 cm, arbuscular, branched repeated, erect to erect-ascending. Stipe abruptly rounded at base and there minutely hispid, beige but not white, discrete, 5-20 x 3-6 mm, usually flattened somewhat, fibrous to fibrous-fleshy. Major branches 2¬4, ascending, terete to slightly flattened, neutral brown ("buffybrown') but easily watersoaked and then dark brown; internodes diminishing gradually and irregularly;, axils narrowly rounded; hymenium unilateral, the fertile areas smooth, somewhat watery in appearance, the sterile areas decurrent from axils and rust-colour (from spores) and appearing furfuraceous. Branching polychotomous below, dichotomous above. Apices about 2 mm thick, rounded-digitate to slightly inflated, pale (cream or beige) when young, becoming "verona-brown" when mature; all parts bruising to chocolate brown, then slowly to blackish brown. Odour weakly spicy, aromatic; taste very weak, hardly bitter.

Under podocarps.

Macrochemical reactions: FCL = greenish black; PHN, ANO = black; NOH = leaches pink; KOH = leaches dull yellow; GUA, PYR = negative. Tramal hyphae of branches 2.5 - 10 gm diam., clamped, hyaline, somewhat thick-walled (wall up to 0.4 gm thick), generally parallel. Hymenium thickening significantly; basidia 50-75 x 5-10 gm, clavate, clamped, persistent after spore discharge; sterigmata 4. Spores (Fig. 98) 8.3-10.8 x 6.5 -7.9 gm (E =1.21-1.50; E'" =1.36; L' = 9.62 gym), broadly ellipsoid to ellipsoid, somewhat flattened adaxially, rust-colour in prints; wall up to 1.5 p m thick; ornamentation of ridges or cog¬like wings and rounded spines up to 3 gm long; hilar appendix broad, gradual.

Here is another example of an inappropriate name based on perceived geographic distribution. Having seen no material from the Pacific, I prematurely coined the name Ramaria pancaribbea (Petersen 1981; p.88). The specimens cited below agree with the circumscription of that species in the following ways: (i) very similar fruit body stature and colour: (ii) 4-sterigmate basidia; (iii) distinct bruising reactions; (iv) thick-walled spores ornamented like cog-like plates rather than spines. No evidence of blue or green colouration was observed, so the new form would seem to be more similar to the typical form, not to f. caerulea.

From both previously described forms, f. zealandica differs as follows: (i) negative macro¬chemical reactions with GUA and PYR, and (ii) bruising reactions to chocolate-brown and blackish brown instead of to brick-red and red-brown. Ramaria sikkimia: Rattan & Khurana (cf. Petersen 1981) produces similar spores which are somewhat smaller, but it is obvious that the two species are very similar. Petersen (1981) gave spore statistics as follows: Ramaria pancaribbea: 8.1-12 x 6.3 - 8.3 gm (E =1.15¬1.69; E°' =1.35; L'^ = 9.16 gm).