Summary:
Features of this commonly reported fungus include a brown cap with a depressed center and with large, coarse, truncate, darker scales, brown teeth that are not decurrent, a white to brown stem that is longer than the cap width and widens at the base, a somewhat disagreeable, sour odor, a mild to bitter taste, growth under conifers especially spruce, and microscopic characters including clamp connections. |Johannesson(1) separated the variant under pine (as opposed to spruce) by molecular and macroscopic (but not microscopic characters) as Sarcodon squamosus (Schaeff.) Quel. Johannesson(1) states, "The pine form has a yellow brown to vinaceous brown pileus with blackish brown scales, the margin of the pileus remains for a long time incurved, and the centre is not or only slightly depressed. When old or dried the pileus of the pine form is distinctly darker than the pileus of the spruce form. The scales are usually smaller than in the spruce form, especially near the margin of the pileus. The broad scales in the centre are not or only slightly pointed upwards. The spines are slightly decurrent, rather short and crowded, greyish and when fresh often with a tint of greyish blue. The stipe is short, usually of about the same length as the diameter of the pileus or shorter, attenuated at the base, and normally distinctly paler at the apex. The context is whitish but sometimes blackish brown in the stipe base. The smell is aromatic, spicy."..."The spruce form has a brown pileus with brown scales, the margin of the pileus does not remain incurved for a long time, and the centre is always depressed, often even infundibuliform or hollow. The pileus of the spruce form is distinctly paler and the broad scales in the centre are usually pointed almost straight upwards. The spines are not decurrent, quite long and brown. The stipe is long, normally longer than the diameter of the pileus, cylindrical or often slightly bulbous at the base, and not paler at the apex. The context is dirty whitish-brownish, not darker in the base of the stipe. The smell is somewhat disagreeable, sour". (Johannesson(1), with Latin names in italics). |These distinctions should be kept in mind when interpreting the descriptions below which generally cover Sarcodon squamosus as well as Sarcodon imbricatus. |Var. monticola K.A. Harrison var. prov. has cap color "vinaceous-russet" to "vinaceous-tawny" (as opposed to "light ochraceous buff" to "warm buff" for var. imbricatus, using Ridgway(1) colors) (Hall).

Chemical Reactions:
flesh not blackening in KOH (Harrison(8))

Odor:
"mild or when dry somewhat smoky or chocolate-like" (Arora), faint (Hall), weakly and pleasantly spicy (Breitenbach), slightly iodized, sometimes horse-like, (Lincoff(1))

Taste:
mild to bitter (Arora), mild (Hall), astringent or slightly bitter (Lincoff(1)), slightly bitter (Harrison(8))

Microscopic:
spores 6-8 x 5-7 microns, "nearly round but prominently warted (angular-nodulose or shaped like a Maltese cross)", (Arora), spores 6.3-7.5 x 5.3-6.3 microns, nearly round to elliptic, "angular-nodulose, appearing as a Maltese cross in outline, coronate", inamyloid; basidia 4-spored, 40-45 x 4-7 microns, clavate; cystidia absent; hyphae 4-14 microns wide, thin-walled, with clamp connections, (Hall), spores 6.5-8 x 5-6 microns (including tubercles), tubercles coarse, flat to concave; all septa with clamp connections, (Breitenbach), hyphae of cap flesh septate, occasionally branched and with clamp connections, (Coker)

Spore Deposit:
brown (Arora, Hall), fawn color in light deposits, buffy brown in heavy ones, (Coker)

Notes:
Some collections as Sarcodon imbricatus are Sarcodon squamosus which was regarded as a synonym, but spruce is frequently mentioned in the habitat of herbarium collections from the Pacific Northwest, implying the presence of the spruce variant, and most of the accompanying photographs are from the Pacific Northwest. Sarcodon imbricatus is reported from BC (collections at Pacific Forestry Centre include one determined by K.A. Harrison, and collections at the University of British Columbia), WA (Hall, both varieties), WA, OR, CA, (Castellano), ID (Andrew Parker, pers. comm.), AK (collections at the University of Washington).

EDIBILITY

yes, but often bitter, causes indigestion in some people, (Arora)

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Hydnum imbricatum L. ex Fr.
Polyporus canaliculatus Overh.
Polyporus sylvestris Overh.