Auriscalpium vulgare Gray
pinecone tooth
Auriscalpiaceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
pinecone tooth
Auriscalpiaceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
Photograph
Species Information
Summary:
Auriscalpium vulgare is distinctive with dark brown color, a lateral cap, short crowded spines on the underside, a thin stem, and growth on Douglas-fir cones.
Odor:
mild (Lincoff(1))
Taste:
slightly peppery (Lincoff(1))
Microscopic:
"spores 4.5-6 x 3-3.5 microns, round or nearly round, smooth or minutely spiny, amyloid", (Arora), spores 4.7-5.3 x 3.3-5.3 microns, nearly round, smooth or minutely punctate-roughened, amyloid, cyanophilous; hymenial cystidial elements thin-walled, not incrusted; hyphae of teeth 2.0-2.7 microns wide, with abundant clamp connections, (Hall), spores usually with one prominent oil droplet (Tylutki)
Spore Deposit:
white (Arora, Hall)
Notes:
It is found in WA (Hall), and BC (Redhead(5)). It is widely distributed in Europe (including France) and in the north and central United States (including ME), also in Canada (including ON), Mexico, and Japan, (Coker). It has been reported from AB (Schalkwijk-Barendsen). The University of British Columbia has collections from BC and AB, and the University of Washington has collections from WA, OR, ID, AB, ON, PQ, MI, and MT. Desjardin(6) records it from CA.
EDIBILITY
too small and tough (Arora)
Habitat and Range
Habitat
primarily on (often buried) Douglas-fir cones in the Pacific Northwest, (Trudell), single or in groups of two or three on rotting, often buried conifer cones, or sometimes on thick debris made up partly of decaying cones, (Arora), single or in groups of two or three on Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas-fir) cones buried in moss (Hall), on fallen rotting pinecones, also reported on Douglas-fir cones, (Lincoff(2)), on cones, typically ponderosa pine or Douglas-fir, (Tylutki), on pine cones, occasionally on spruce, Douglas-fir, and fir cones; summer and fall, (Miller), recorded mostly on Douglas-fir, but twice on Sugar Pine (Pinus lambertiana) cones in the Sierra Nevada foothills (MykoWeb)
Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Auriscalpium auriscalpium (L.) Banker
Crustomyces subabruptus (Bourdot & Galzin) Julich
Odontia subabrupta Bourdot & Galzin