Gomphus clavatus, commonly known as pig's ears or the violet chanterelle, is an edible species of fungus in the genus Gomphus. Described by Jacob Christian Schäffer in 1774, G. clavatus has had several name changes and many alternative scientific names, having been classified in the genus Cantharellus (also called chanterelles), though it is not closely related to them. The fruit body is vase- or fan-shaped with wavy edges to its rim, and grows up to 15–16 cm (6–6+1⁄4 in) wide and 17 cm (6+3⁄4 in) tall. The upper surface or cap is orangish-brown to lilac, while the lower spore-bearing surface, the hymenium, is covered in wrinkles and ridges rather than gills or pores, and is a distinctive purple color. Typically found in coniferous forests in Eurasia and North America, G. clavatus is mycorrhizal and associated with various conifers, particularly spruces and firs. It is more common at elevations of greater than 2,000 ft (600 m), in moist, shady areas with plenty of leaf litter. Although widespread, G. clavatus has become rare in many parts of Europe and extinct in the British Isles. It has been placed on the national Red Lists of threatened fungi in 17 different European countries and is one of 33 species proposed for international conservation under the Bern Convention.
Taxonomy German naturalist Jacob Christian Schäffer described Elvela (subsequently Helvella) purpurascens in 1774. Austrian naturalist Franz Xaver von Wulfen gave it the name Clavaria elveloides in 1781, reporting that it appeared in the fir tree forests around Klagenfurt in August and was common around Hüttenberg. He recorded that poor people ate it, giving it the local name hare's ear. In 1796, mycologist Christian Hendrik Persoon described G. clavatus as Merulius clavatus, noting that it grew in grassy locations in woods. He noted it was the same species that Schäffer had described. The specific epithet—derived from the Latin word clava (club) and meaning "club-shaped"—refers to the shape of young fruit bodies. In his 1801 Synopsis methodica fungorum, Persoon placed Merulius clavatus (recognising two varieties—violaceus and spadiceus) in the section Gomphus within Merulius. British botanist Samuel Frederick Gray used Persoon's name, transferring the violet chanterelle to the genus Gomphus in 1821. As it was the first named member of the genus it became the type species. The starting date of fungal taxonomy had been set as January 1, 1821, to coincide with the date of the works of Swedish naturalist Elias Magnus Fries, which meant the name required sanction by Fries (indicated in the name by a colon) to be considered valid. Thus the species was written as Gomphus clavatus (Pers.: Fr.) Gray. A 1987 revision of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature set the starting date at May 1, 1753, the date of publication of the Species Plantarum, by Carl Linnaeus. Hence, the name no longer requires the ratification of Fries' authority. Persoon followed suit in treating Gomphus as a separate genus in his 1825 work Mycologia Europaea. Here he recognized M. clavatus as the same species as Clavaria truncata described by Casimir Christoph Schmidel in 1796, calling the taxon Gomphus truncatus. Fries himself declined to keep the genus separate, instead classifying Gomphus as a tribus (subgenus) within the genus Cantharellus in his 1821 work Systema Mycologicum, the species becoming Cantharellus clavatus. He recognized four varieties: violaceo-spadiceus, carneus, purpurascens and umbrinus. Swiss mycologist Louis Secretan described three taxa—Merulius clavatus carneus, M. clavatus violaceus and M. clavatus purpurascens—in his 1833 work Mycographie Suisse. Many of his names have been rejected for nomenclatural purposes because Secretan had a narrow species concept, dividing many taxa into multiple species that were not supported by other authorities, and his works did not use binomial nomenclature consistently. Fries revised his classification in his 1838 book Epicrisis Systematis Mycologici seu Synopsis Hymenomycetum, placing it in a series—Deformes—in the genus Craterellus.
Paul Kummer raised many of Fries' tribus (subgenera; not tribes) to genus rank in his 1871 work Der Führer in die Pilzkunde, classifying the violet chanterelle in the genus Thelephora. Jacques Emile Doassans and Narcisse Théophile Patouillard placed it in the genus Neurophyllum (also spelt Nevrophyllum) in 1886, removing it from Cantharellus on account of its orange spores. Charles Horton Peck discarded the name in 1887 and returned G. clavatus to Cantharellus. In 1891, German botanist Otto Kuntze published Revisio generum plantarum, his response to what he perceived as poor method in existing nomenclatural practice. He coined the genus Trombetta to incorporate the violet chanterelle, hence giving it the name Trombetta clavata. However, Kuntze's revisionary program was not accepted by the majority of botanists. Alexander H. Smith treated Gomphus as a section within Cantharellus in his 1947 review of chanterelles in western North America, as he felt there were no consistent characteristics that distinguished the two genera. In 1966 E. J. H. Corner described a small-spored variety, G. clavatus var. parvispora, from specimens collected in Uganda; it is not considered to have independent taxonomic significance. Research in the early 2000s combining the use of phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences and more traditional morphology-based characters has resulted in a reshuffling of the species concept in Gomphus; as a result, G. clavatus is considered the only Gomphus species in North America. Comparison of the DNA sequences of species Gomphus brevipes and G. truncatus has shown them to be genetically identical to G. clavatus, and they may be treated as synonyms. Gomphus clavatus is commonly known as pig's ears, alluding to the violet underside and yellowish cap of the fruit bodies, although this vernacular name is also used for Discina perlata. Other English common names for this species include clustered chanterelle and violet chanterelle. Gray coined the name clubbed gomphe. In the Sherpa language of Nepal the fungus is known as Eeshyamo ("mother-in-law"), as its imposing fruit body is reminiscent of a mother-in-law, who has a dominant role in a Sherpa family.
Description
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