Hirticlavula elegans produces white
fruit bodies from 800 to 1100
micrometres (μm) in height. The robust and fertile head measures from 230 to 260 by 90 to 200 μm, while the hairy stem measures between 600 and 800 by 40 to 60 μm. The fruit bodies mostly retain their shape when dried, but do develop a
cream tinge. The fruit bodies do not emerge from a
sclerotium, but instead grow directly from the
substrate. The
basidia are
cyanophilous, meaning that the cell walls will readily absorb
methyl blue stain. They measure 14 to 22 by 3.5 to 5 μm, and each sport four "curved and remarkably thin"
sterigmata. The sterigmata are 4–5 μm in length. The smooth, broadly
ellipsoid spores measure 4.5 to 6.5 by 3–4.2 μm. They are
hyaline, and either cyanophilous or containing cyanophilous particles. They contain no prominent crystals, and are topped by a 0.8 μm-long apiculus (the section that connects to the sterigmatum). The
hyphae lack
clamp connections, and the hyphal structure is monomitic, meaning that only generative hyphae are present. In the stem, the 1–2 μm-wide hyphae run parallel to one another, but are less regular towards the base.
Similar species Hirticlavula elegans fruit bodies are highly distinctive. The characteristic hairy stems are very different from those of any other species in the Clavariaceae. Hairy stems are seen among more distant relatives, including members of
Typhula,
Pistillina and
Pterula. However, the hairs of
H. elegans are specialised structures containing numerous cells, while the more irregular hairs on the stems of the other species are merely branched hyphae. In addition, the hairs on the
H. elegans stems thicken at the furthest point from the stem, while any hairs on the stems of other known species of clavarioid fungi thin at the end. ==Distribution and ecology==