A brown, scaly-capped tooth fungus with yellow-brown spines and a pinkish-brown stem whose narrowed base is grayish green. The flesh is bitter. Formerly Sarcodon scabrosus, it was moved to Hydnellum in 2019.
Inedible because of its bitter flesh. Not known to be dangerous. The greenish stem base and bitterness separate it from the edible Sarcodon imbricatus.
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Habitat
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Ectomycorrhizal with pines: in Scandinavia in pine forests and mixed conifer forests, commonly on sandy pine heaths (Svampguiden); MushroomExpert also describes it as apparently mycorrhizal with pines, and Harrison & Grund treated it as a conifer associate. Late summer and autumn.
Distribution
Northern Europe, especially Fennoscandia, and Eurasia to Japan (Wikipedia; Svampguiden). Often reported from North America, but MushroomExpert calls it a northern European species that 'may or may not actually occur in North America'; North American collections need molecular study.
Characteristics
Cap: up to 12 cm, convex to flattened, brownish with brown scales, darkening with age. Spines: yellow-brown, about 5 mm long, decurrent. Stem: 2-12 cm tall, 1-6 cm wide, pinkish brown, narrowing to a grayish-green to bluish-black base. Flesh: whitish; taste bitter, sometimes slowly; odor farinaceous or like watermelon when cut. Spore print: brown. Spores: 5-7.5 um, irregularly globose, nodulose. Clamp connections: absent (Wikipedia; MushroomExpert).
