Hericium cirrhatum

Hericium cirrhatum (Pers. : Fr.) Nikol.

[Creolophus cirrhatus]

Name: tiered tooth fungus; spine-face.
Etymology: Epithet = curly hairs or fringed. Genus = hedgehog.
Fruitbody: Annual, imbricate (tiered or layered) brackets with teeth. Cap often scaly.
Similar species: Climacodon pulcherrimus is matted hairy on top, somewhat resembling a Trametes. Climacodon septentrionalis is typically in large overlapping clusters on maple. Spongipellis pachyodon has flattened teeth and angular pores.
Ecology: Saprobe on live and dead hardwoods.
Phenology: Apparently summer and fall. The Chicago record is from 31 July 2010.
Biogeography: Found in Europe and rare in North America. Some sources say its presence in North America is debatable, but the few herbarium records online include ones by A.H. Smith (Colorado) and Chuck Barrows (New Mexico). Is it possible that the American collections are actually Climacodon pulcherrimus? Microscopic examination would answer the question.

Chicago Region status

Rare.

Specimens examined

F has an 1898 specimen from Decatur, Iowa. There are NAMA collections from Illinois and Missouri (1999), Texas (2000), and Minnesota (2001).

Taxon Details and Links

Nomenclature

Hericium cirrhatum (Pers. : Fr.) Nikol., Trudy Botanicheskogo Instituta Akademii Nauk SSSR. Seriia 2, 5:343. (1950).
≡ Basionym: Hydnum cirrhatum Pers., Neues Magazin für die Botanik 1: 109 (1794)
≡ Sanctioned: Hydnum cirrhatum Pers. : Fr., Systema Mycologicum 1: 411 (1821)
≡ Creolophus cirrhatus (Pers. : Fr.) P. Karst., Meddelanden af Societas pro Fauna et Flora Fennica 5: 42 (1879)

Type

Europe.

Taxonomy

Originally placed in Hydnum for having teeth. Its relationship to Hericium was not realized for 150 years. It was also transferred to Dryodon (1886) and Steccherinum (1963).

Description links

Related links

Records online

Taxon links

298405 Hericium cirrhatum: MycoBank; Index Fungorum and Species Fungorum

Compare Index Fungorum and Mycobank.