Tooth Fungi: Spined Mushrooms Like Lion's Mane
Tooth fungi carry their spores on teeth or spines that hang down under a cap, a branch or the whole fruit body. That surface puts your mushroom in a broad group. You still need a full identification for the species and for any food decision.
Species in this group
2 species
Choice edible
MedicinalWhat do teeth describe?
Teeth are spines that point down and carry the spores. Their length, their spacing and where they hang all count as field marks. The spines can hang from a cap, from a branch or from the whole fruit body, so you read them together with the rest of the mushroom. The hedgehog mushroom has soft cream spines under a plain cap. Lion's mane grows on hardwood as a shaggy white pom-pom of hanging teeth.
Why does the type label not identify or clear a mushroom for eating?
The tooth surface describes only one part of your mushroom. Its name and whether you can eat it still depend on the whole form, what it grows on, the season, the place and the details in each species profile. Spines that crumble when you rub them are a good field mark, and so are white teeth on hardwood. Neither of them clears a wild mushroom for the pan.