It is widely held to be mildly poisonous if consumed, giving rise to acute gastrointestinal symptoms of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and colicky pain.

[9] Synonyms have resulted from transfers of the fungus to the now obsolete genera Merisma by Harald Othmar Lenz in 1831,[10] and to Corallium by Gotthold Hahn in 1883.

[15] There is some confusion over its classification as there is evidence the binomial name has been applied loosely to any coral fungus fitting the description, and thus the collections from North America are now considered to be a different species.

There are several other Ramaria species with yellow-tipped, salmon-coloured branches, including R. leptoformosa, R. neoformosa, R. raveneliana and R. rubricarnata.

[22] Consumption of the fungus results in acute gastrointestinal symptoms of nausea, vomiting, colicky abdominal pain and diarrhea.