CHAPTER VIII.
HYDNACEAE—FUNGI WITH TEETH.
There is, perhaps, no family in mycology that has a greater variety in form, size, and consistency than this. Some species are very large, some are small, some fleshy, and some are corky or woody. The fruiting surface is the special characteristic marking the family. This surface is covered with spines or teeth which nearly always point to the earth.
Many of the Hydnaceæ are shelving, growing on trees or logs; some grow on the ground on central, but usually eccentric, stems. The genera of Hydnaceæ are distinguished by the size, shape, and attachment of the teeth. The following genera are included:
- Hydnum—Spines discrete at the base.
- Irpex—Resupinate; with gill-like teeth concrete with the pileus.
- Mucronella—Plants with teeth only and no basal membrane.
- Radulum—Hymenium with thick, blunt, irregular spines.
- Sistotrema—Fleshy plants with caps and flattened teeth, on ground.
- Phlebia—Plants spread over the host with crowded folds or wrinkles.
- Grandinia—Covered with granules, more or less smooth, and excavated.
- Odontium—Covered with crested granules.
Hydnum. Linn.
Hydnum is from a Greek word meaning an eatable fungus. The genus is characterized by awl-shaped spines which are distant at the base. These spines are at first papilliform, then elongated and round. They form the fruiting surface and take the place of the gills in the family Agaricaceæ and of the pores in the family of Polyporaceæ. The spines are simple or in some cases the tips are more or less branched.
This is the greatest genus in the family and it includes many important edible species. It may be divided into two groups: one, those species having a cap and a central or lateral stem; the other, the species growing with or without a distinct cap, in large imbricated masses. Some imitate coral in structure and some seem to be a mass of spines. Many of these plants grow to be very large and massive, frequently weighing over ten pounds.
Hydnum repandum. Linn.
The Spreading Hydnum. Edible.