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Hydnum rufescens

 
Hydnum rufescens, a Hedgehog Fungus, is a popular edible species. It should be picked while young and free from worms and grubs. This mushroom grows in all kinds of woodland.

Identification guide

Description

The cap is orange-red or pale tan, smooth and slightly felty to the touch; it is often perched eccentrically upon the stipe. The flesh is pink.

Hanging down like stalactites, soft spines cover the fertile beneath the cap. Unlike those of its close relative, Hydnum repandum, the pink spines of this species are adnexed or almost free rather than decurrent to the stem.

Size

fruitbody 2 to 6 cm in diameter and 2 to 4 cm tall.

Stem diameter typically 15 to 30 mm.

The pines, seen here in close-up, are 2 to 4 mm long.

Spore print

White.

Odour/taste

Odour not distinctive; turns bitter in the mouth after a few moments delay.

Habitat

Forms rings among the moss and leaf litter of forest floors.

Season

August to December.

Occurrence

Fairly common.

Similar species

  1. Hydnum repandum is larger and cream coloured; its spines are decurrent to the stem rather than adnexed.
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