Summary:
{See also Hericium Table.} Hericium coralloides consists of tufts of whitish teeth evenly distributed along branches arising from a repeatedly branching base, and sometimes in small tufts at branch tips, growing on hardwood. Arora discusses nomenclatural intricacies in this genus, and the approach of Ginns(5) from 1993 is used here, in which H. ramosum as referred to by Arora is called H. coralloides (Scop.: Fr.) Pers. and H. coralloides, as the hardwood lover similar to H. abietis with pure white color when fresh, slightly longer spines up to 4cm, and slightly larger spores is called H. americanum Ginns.

Microscopic:
"spores 3-5 x 3-4 microns, nearly round, smooth or minutely roughened, amyloid", (Arora), spores 4-4.7 x 2.7-3.3 microns, nearly round to elliptic, amyloid, not cyanophilous, 1 droplet; basidia 4-spored, 20-35 x 5.3-6 microns, clavate; cystidia 45-53.3 x 6-7.3 microns, "extending into the spine trama and lying parallel with the hyphae", cylindric, thin-walled, with or without knob on tip; hyphae 3.3-20 microns wide, colorless, thin-walled, clamp connections present, (Hall), spores 3.5-5 x 2.8-4 microns (Hallenberg)

Spore Deposit:
white (Arora, Hall)

Notes:
There are collections from BC and AB at the University of British Columbia labeled Hericium ramosum, but some collections identified as H. coralloides from the west may be H. abietis. Desjardin(6)* records it from CA.

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Hymenoscyphus subcarneus (Sacc.) Kuntze
Hymenoscyphus subcarneus (Cooke & Peck) Kuntze