Hericium abietis

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Hericium abietis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Russulales
Family: Hericiaceae
Genus: Hericium
Species:
H. abietis
Binomial name
Hericium abietis
(
K.A.Harrison
(1964)
Synonyms[1]

Hydnum abietis Weir ex Hubert (1931)

Hericium abietis
parasitic
Edibility is choice

Hericium abietis,

tooth fungus group. It grows on conifer stumps or logs in North America, producing a cream white fruit body
up to 10–75 cm (4–30 in) tall and wide. It fruits from after the start of the fall rains to mid-season.

Taxonomy

The species was first described as Hydnum abietis by American botanist

Priest River in Idaho. Kenneth Archibald Harrison transferred it to the genus Hericium in 1964.[4] The mushroom is commonly known as the "bear's head"[5] or the "western coral hedgehog".[6]

Description

Hericium abietis mushroom growing on a log in Northwestern British Columbia. Note, there is also a bracket mushroom growing in the background on the same log.

The fruit body forms a compact, branched mass with long spines hanging down. The branches originate from a single, thick, tough base. The color of the fruit body ranges from white to creamy, light yellowish, to

buff. The hanging spines are usually 0.5–1 cm (1⁄4–3⁄8 in) long, although some may be as long as 2.5 cm (1 in); they are soft and brittle, and typically grow as clusters at the tips of the branches. Typically, fruit bodies have dimensions in the range of 10 to 75 cm (4 to 30 in) tall and wide, but they have been known to attain massive sizes; one noted specimen was about 100 pounds (45 kg).[7]

Hericium abietis produces a white spore print. The spores are spherical or nearly so, smooth to slightly roughened, amyloid, and measure 4.5–5.5 by 4–5 μm.[7] The hyphae are monomitic (consisting of only generative hyphae), and they have clamp connections.[5]

Similar species

Hericium erinaceus is a lookalike spine fungus. It can be distinguished by its more compact fruit body structure that lacks multiple branches, in which the hanging spines all originate from a single thick tubercle.[5] In Hericium coralloides, the spines line the undersides of the branches, unlike H. abietis, whose spines are arranged in clusters at the tip of branches.[8]

Edibility

Hericium abietis is

curry dish.[7]

Habitat and distribution

Hericium abietis causes a white rot of conifers; this is a form of wood decay featuring a selective attack on lignin and hemicellulose in wood.[5] The fruit bodies grow singly or occasionally in small groups on the dead wood of conifers, especially Douglas fir.[7] It can also be cultivated on conifer sawdust or logs.[10] The species is found throughout North America.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Hericium abietis (Weir ex Hubert) K.A. Harrison 1964". MycoBank. International Mycological Association. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
  2. Abies
    ", the fir genus.
  3. ISBN 978-0-89815-169-5
    .
  4. doi:10.1139/b64-116
    .
  5. ^
    ISBN 0-89301-097-9
    .
  6. ISBN 0-395-91090-0
    .
  7. ^
    ISBN 0-89815-169-4
    .
  8. ^
    ISBN 0-02-063690-3
    .
  9. ISBN 978-1-4930-2669-2
    .
  10. doi:10.1139/b97-827
    .

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hericium_abietis&oldid=1208525616"