Hericium cirrhatum - Tiered Tooth

Hericium cirrhatum - a very rare tiered form of tooth fungus

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Russulales

This very rare tiered tooth fungus of dead hardwood trees in old (mainly deciduous) woodland has been reported from several sites in southern England, notably the New Forest.

Our (rather ageing and rain-drenched) specimen, pictured above, was found at Longleat, in Wiltshire. The spines are 10 to 15mm long - considerably shorter than those of the similar and closely related Bearded Tooth or Lion's Mane fungus, Hericium erinaceus.

Spines of Tiered Tooth fungus

Synonym: Creolophus cirrhatus

Classification note: Although DNA analysis has confirmed that many tooth fungi (such as the Wood Hedgehog Hydnum repandum) are properly classified in the order Canthellales, the Tiered Tooth is now included in the order Russulales.

Identification guide

Description	Hericium cirrhatum produces irregular cream fruitbodies with little or no real stem. This remarkable fungus and other member of the Hericiaceae are distinguished by their icicle-like spines.
Size	The whole fruitbody is usually 5 to 10cm across, often occurring in tiered groups covering a large area. The typical thickness is 2 or 3cm. Spines are pointed and usually little more than 1 to 1.5cm long.
Spore print	White.
Odour/taste	Odour not distinctive when young, although decaying specimens give off a nauseating smell.
Habitat	On dead wood of beech and occasionally other broadleaf trees.
Season	July to November
Occurrence	Hericium cirrhatum is very rare in Britain and Ireland.
Similar species	Hydnum rufescens and Hydnum repandum also have downward-projecting spines, but they are attached to a smooth-topped cap. Hericium erinaceus is also very rare in the UK; it has longer spines and a more spherical fruitbody.

Reference Sources

Fascinated by Fungi, Pat O'Reilly 2011

Dictionary of the Fungi; Paul M. Kirk, Paul F. Cannon, David W. Minter and J. A. Stalpers; CABI, 2008

Taxonomic history and synonym information on these pages is drawn from many sources but in particular from the British Mycological Society's GB Checklist of Fungi and (for basidiomycetes) on Kew's Checklist of the British & Irish Basidiomycota.