Phellodon atratus K.A. Harrison
black tooth
Bankeraceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
black tooth
Bankeraceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
Species Information
Summary:
Features include 1) thin, tough caps that are up to 5cm across (but often fused with other caps), colored bluish black to purple-black or purplish black, appressed-fibrillose, and at least faintly zoned, 2) flesh that is purple-black to bluish black, 3) very short, irregularly decurrent teeth that are gray to dark purplish gray-brown, 4) a tough, roughened stem that is colored like the cap, 5) white spore deposit, and 6) spiny spores.
Chemical Reactions:
flesh turns deep blue-black in KOH (Harrison)
Odor:
mild or faintly fragrant (Arora), none to smoky fungoid (Harrison), fenugreek in cap, faintly smoky in stem, (Hall)
Taste:
mild (Arora, Harrison, Hall)
Microscopic:
spores 4-5 x 3-5 microns, round or nearly round, minutely spiny, (Arora), spores 4.5-5 x 4-5 microns, round to nearly round, finely echinulate (spiny), with 10-15 processes visible on circumference, with a distinct mucro; basidia 4.5-5 microns wide, thin-walled and reviving poorly, no clamp connections seen at base; hyphae flexuous [wavy], 3.5-4.5 microns wide, septa far apart, few branches, no clamp connections seen, contain dark granules, context appears amyloid in Melzer''s reagent, (Harrison), spores 3.8-4.2 x 3.3-3.8 microns, round to nearly round, echinulate, inamyloid; basidia 33-38 x 4-7 microns, clavate; cystidia absent; hyphae up to 6 microns wide, brownish, septate, without clamp connections, (Hall)
Spore Deposit:
white (Arora, Harrison)
Notes:
Phellodon atratus is found at least in BC, WA, OR, and CA, (Harrison).
EDIBILITY
unknown (Arora)
Habitat and Range
SIMILAR SPECIES
Phellodon melaleucus unless rain-soaked is dark brown with a contrasting white margin, as opposed to nearly black, KOH reaction on the flesh is olivaceous, and microscopically dark granules are only found in the cuticular hyphae, and flesh does not appear amyloid, (Harrison). P. melaleucus has a dark brown cap with purplish tints and pale edges, (Trudell). P. melaleucus has purplish black to purplish gray flesh, but the cap is dark brown to purplish gray with a pallid margin, spines are whitish to gray, and stem is very thin and dark brown to black, and sometimes deeply rooted, (Arora), P. melaleucus is very similar, but can be distinguished by the color of the cap and the hymenium (more difficult when very wet, but on drying separation is again possible): P. melaleucus has "dark vinaceous-brown" cap at times tinged "violaceous blue" with ''whitish'' margin and ''ash-gray'' teeth, whereas P. atratus has an "aniline-black" cap with a "violaceous blue" margin and a "vinaceous-drab" hymenium, (Hall). |Hydnellum fuscoindicum is "somewhat similar in color but larger and fleshy-brittle rather than pliant and tough", (Arora).Habitat
scattered to gregarious, on ground under conifers, especially Sitka spruce, (Arora), gregarious, compound and often concrescent [becoming joined], under conifers, (Harrison), singly or in extensive patches in duff under Pseudotsuga (Douglas-fir), Abies (fir), or Tsuga (hemlock), (Hall)
Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Clavaria botrytis Pers.