Summary:
{See also Hericium Table.} Hericium erinaceus forms an unbranched mass of long, closely packed, parallel hanging white spines that discolor to yellowish or yellowish brown, growing on hardwoods. The dried and ground flesh is used as a styptic by some people according to Lincoff (1981). Note that the ending of "erinaceus" is masculine even though Hericium is neuter, because "erinaceus" is a noun, not an adjective.

Odor:
slightly acid (Lincoff(1)), fungoid (Miller)

Taste:
sweetish (Lincoff(1)), mild and pleasant (Miller)

Microscopic:
spores 5-6.5 x 4-5.5 microns, broadly elliptic to nearly round, smooth to minutely roughened, amyloid, (Arora), spores 5-6.5 x 4-5.5 microns, nearly round, white, some minutely roughened with dots; basidia 4-spored, 5-6.5 microns thick, slenderly clavate; gloeocystidia "about 7.2 microns thick, some with encrusted tip, contents denser than surrounding cells"; hyphae of body up to 12-14 microns wide, colorless, thick-walled, at times closing the lumen, "curling and interwoven, moderately branched, septate with occasional clamp connections", (Coker), spores 5.3-6.6 x 4.7-5.3 microns, nearly round to elliptic, smooth or minutely punctate-roughened; basidia 4-spored, 40-50 x 5.3-6.0 microns; cystidia 43-52 x 5-7 microns, cylindric, extending into the spine trama, thick-walled, sometimes with encrusted tip; hyphae up to 14 microns wide, "dimitic, thick-walled, curling and interwoven, moderately branched"; clamp connections present, (Hall), trama with thick-walled, amyloid cells, (Miller)

Spore Deposit:
white (Arora)

Notes:
It is found in WA (Hall), CA (Arora), OR, AL, AR, AZ, FL, GA, IA, KS, LA, MD, MI, MN, MS, NC, NJ, NY, PA, VA, and WV, (Ginns), There are collections from BC deposited at the Pacific Forestry Centre and the University of British Columbia. It also occurs in Europe and Russia (Siberia), (Coker).

EDIBILITY

excellent when fresh, but tougher than other Hericium species and sometimes developing a rather sour unpleasant taste when old, (Arora), significant gastrointestinal reaction has been reported (Benjamin)

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Corticium furfuraceum Bres.
Resinicium furfuraceum (Bres.) Parmasto