How to tell Rosso coral from Salmon coral

It has no cap in the usual sense: instead it forms a bushy, coral-like fruiting body, 10-20 cm tall and 15-30 cm across overall, compact and rounded to cushion-shaped. A thick shared trunk at the bottom splits into numerous branching "fingers" (branchlets) on top. The base is white to cream, and the branchlets are pale cream with characteristic pinkish-red or wine-purple tips, a key identifying feature.

There is no cap as such. The fruit body is bushy, 7 to 20 cm tall, occasionally up to 30 cm, and up to 15 cm across. Branches rise densely from a thick base and fork several times. The branch tips are slender, less than half a centimetre wide.

Young branches are salmon pink, orange-pink or pinkish ochre with yellow tips. The colour is very variable and fades quickly: old specimens turn ochre, and then colour no longer separates them from other corals.

The spore-bearing layer covers the surface of the "fingers" (there are no gills or pores). The spore print is ochre to yellowish.

There are no gills or pores. The smooth spore-bearing surface covers the branches on all sides.

The spore print is ochre yellow. The spores are elongated, 8–15 × 4–6 µm, with small warts that run together in lines. Spores and other microscopic features are what reliably separate the salmon coral from its lookalikes.

The shared base of the cluster is thick, fleshy and white, 3-8 cm tall and 4-6 cm across. Higher up it divides into numerous branches, then into smaller pink-tipped branchlets. The surface of the base is smooth and white, yellowing with age.

There is no separate stem. The branches grow from a thick, fleshy base that is whitish or paler than the branches. There is no ring and no volva.

The flesh is firm, white and marbled, becoming rather tough and fibrous with age. It doesn't change colour when cut, which is an important identifying feature (toxic ramarias may darken). The smell is pleasant and fruity, sometimes with a hint of radish.

The flesh is white, pinkish or pale orange in the middle, and tough and rubbery in the branches. It can turn wine red or blackish where broken or pressed. Field guides describe the taste as bitter.

Pleasant, fresh, fruity and mushroomy, with a hint of radish in young ones. Not sharp, with no chemical notes.

The British guide First Nature describes the smell as not distinctive, while English Wikipedia calls it unpleasant. Smell is no help in identifying it.