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Coral Tooth

Edible

Autumn

Summer

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Coral Tooth, Hericium coralloides

A very rare member of the Europe-wide rare genus Hericium. The fruiting bodies look like white branching corals growing out of dying or dead deciduous trees, mostly Beech. Despite the fact that it is not protected in the UK, we recommend only collecting photos, not fruit bodies!

Mushroom Type
Common Names	Coral Tooth, Pigau Cwrel (CY), Soplówka Bukowa (PL), Közönséges Petrezselyemgomba (HU)
Scientific Name	Hericium coralloides
Synonyms	Hericium clathroides, Hericium ramosum, Hydnum coralloides
Season Start	Jul
Season End	Oct
Average Mushroom height (CM)
Average Cap width (CM)

Please note that each and every mushroom you come across may vary in appearance to these photos.

Fruiting Body

The fruiting body is medium to large in size (5–30 cm in diameter), coral shaped and heavily branched. Each branch is growing out of a very short, broad central stem, and covered in pale, off-white to white, hanging spines or “teeth”, which makes the whole fruit body white when young, off-white to yellow with age.

Spines

Up to 1–1.5 cm long, pale, off-white to white, yellowing with age.

Flesh

Thick, white to cream. Soft and cheese-like at first, more cork-like to tough with age.

Habitat

Saprotrophic on dead or dying hardwoods, most of all Beech, although much more rarely it can be found on other deciduous trees, such as Oak, Elm, Poplar, Ash or Birch. Some authors list it is a weakly parasitic species. Grows individually or in groups on logs or stumps, but it even can grow out of untreated wounds of living, but weak trees. It causes white-rot.

Possible Confusion

It is a very distinctive species, hard to confuse with anything else.

Taste / Smell

It has a somewhat radish-like taste, without any characteristic scent. As it is a very rare species, despite the fact that it is not protected in the UK, we recommend only collecting photos, not fruit bodies!

Frequency

Very rare in the UK. Its known spots are mainly from the Southern counties.

Spores

Spore print is white. Spores almost spherical (subglobose); their surface is finely punctate and strongly amyloid, (which proves the spore wall does contain starch in traces).