Scaly tooth

Description

The scaly tooth is a fungus with spines instead of gills or tubes. It has a thick-fleshed, flat or plano-convex cap covered with coarse, brown to dark brown scales, and on the underside crowded, short spines, cream to brown. The stem is short, solid, cream to light brown. The cap sizes given in descriptions differ (up to 6 cm or 10–25 cm).

It grows in pine forests, also on heaths and rocky soils, often in rings. It is very similar to Sarcodon imbricatus, from which it differs in habitat and, according to some descriptions, in smaller fruiting bodies and darker, more erect scales.

Young specimens have a pleasant smell and mild taste, older ones may be bitter. In Poland the species was protected in 2004–2014; check the current legal status before collecting. Do not collect mushrooms you have doubts about.

Identification features

Cap

Thick-fleshed, plano-convex to flat, covered with coarse scales from brown to dark brown (nearly black when wet, dark brown to black when dry); scales darker and more erect than in Sarcodon imbricatus. Diameter according to different descriptions up to 6 cm or 10–25 cm (shallowly funnel-shaped, white, brown-violet with age, with scales in concentric rings) — the descriptions disagree.

Hymenophore (underside of the cap)

Spines (not tubes or gills), about 0.2 cm long, crowded, cream to brown when fresh, dark brown in dried specimens. Attachment to the stem — no data.

Stem

Cylindrical, height up to 5 cm, thickness up to 1.5 cm, central or eccentric, solid. Surface cream to light brown when fresh, dark brown when dry. Ring — no data.

Flesh

Brittle, whitish in young specimens, greyish-brown in older ones; smell spicy, taste pleasant (older fruiting bodies may taste bitter). Do not taste the flesh of unknown mushrooms.

Spore print and spores

Spore print colour — no data. Spores (basidiospores) globose to ovoid, ornamented with warts, 7.0–8.5 × 6.0–8.0 µm (Q = 1.08).

Habitat and distribution

Ecology. Terrestrial fungus; some descriptions call it saprotrophic (in the mycological literature the tooth fungi are usually regarded as mycorrhizal — to be confirmed). Grows in forests with pine, in Korea recorded under oaks. Often forms fairy rings on pine heaths and rocky soils; associated with old, long-continuous stands and does not tolerate clear-cutting.

Distribution. North America, Europe (from the Mediterranean to northern Scandinavia, from the British Isles to Asia) and Asia. In Poland formerly not distinguished from Sarcodon imbricatus, so many of its localities may have been recorded under that name. In 2004–2014 it was under species protection in Poland; it is now not protected (Dz.U. 2014 item 1408).

Fruiting. No data.

What can it be confused with?

• Sarcodon imbricatus (the scaly hedgehog; Polish: sarniak świerkowy) — Morphologically almost identical; fruiting body larger, scales on the cap paler and less erect; differs in habitat (spruce), range and genetic features.
• Hydnellum species, protected Sarcodon (S. joeides, S. underwoodii, S. glaucopus, S. scabrosus) and Boletopsis grisea — Caution: protected species (strict protection in Poland), not included in the Atlas. Hydnellum species have tough, corky fruit bodies, often fused and growing around needles or twigs; the protected Sarcodon species are smaller, bitter, often with a bluish-green stem base; Boletopsis has pores instead of spines. If in doubt, do not pick.

Never rely on a single feature. If you are not sure — do not pick it; show the mushroom to a qualified mushroom expert.

Interesting facts

• For years it was described as Sarcodon imbricatus; only DNA analyses showed that it is a separate species.
• In Norway the pine-associated forms were considered tastier among mushroom pickers.
• In 2004–2014 it was under species protection in Poland.
• It is one of the few fungi from which blue dyes for dyeing fabrics can be obtained.