The hydnoid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota with basidiocarps (fruit bodies) producing spores on pendant, tooth-like or spine-like projections. They are colloquially called tooth fungi. Originally such fungi were referred to the genus Hydnum ("hydnoid" means Hydnum-like), but it is now known that not all hydnoid species are closely related.
Hydnum was one of the original genera created by Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum of 1753. It contained all species of fungi with fruit bodies bearing pendant, tooth-like projections. Subsequent authors described around 900 species in the genus. [1] With increasing use of the microscope, it became clear that not all tooth fungi were closely related and most Hydnum species were gradually moved to other genera. The Dutch mycologist Rudolph Arnold Maas Geesteranus paid particular attention to the group, producing a series of papers reviewing the taxonomy of hydnoid fungi. [2] [3] [4] [5]
The original genus Hydnum is still current, but is now restricted to the type species, Hydnum repandum , and its relatives in the order Cantharellales. Other species originally described in Hydnum have been reassigned to various genera in various orders including the Agaricales, Auriculariales, Gomphales, Hymenochaetales, Polyporales, Russulales, Thelephorales and Trechisporales. [1] [6] [7]
The fruit bodies of hydnoid fungi are diverse, but all produce their spores on the surface of pendant, tooth-like or spine-like projections.
Some terrestrial species producing fruit bodies with a pileus (cap) and stipe (stem) are collectively known as the stipitate hydnoid fungi and are often studied as a group because of their ecological similarity. The species concerned are now referred to the genera Bankera , Hydnellum , Phellodon , and Sarcodon . All are ectomycorrhizal, belong in the Thelephorales, and are considered to be indicator species of old, species-rich forests. In Europe, at least, many are of conservation concern and feature on national or regional red lists of threatened fungal species. In the United Kingdom the stipitate hydnoid fungi have been given Biodiversity Action Plan status [8] which has increased interest in the group and has generated funding to be put into survey work [9] [10] and other research. [11] [12]
Species of Hydnum and the related Sistotrema confluens (Cantharellales) are also mycorrhizal, but have different ecological requirements. Other stipitate hydnoid fungi are wood decomposing, such as some species of Beenakia (Gomphales), Climacodon (Polyporales) and Mycorrhaphium (Polyporales).
The largest group of fungi formerly placed in the genus Hydnum are wood-rotting species, forming patch-like fruit bodies on dead attached branches, logs, stumps, and fallen wood. Species with small "teeth" (just a millimetre or so long) are sometimes described as "odontioid" (tooth-like). Species that form resupinate (effused) fruiting bodies are also considered part of the corticioid fungi. Genera that have hydnoid or odontioid representatives include Hydnochaete , Hyphodontia and Odonticium (Hymenochaetales), Dentipellis (Russulales), Dentocorticium , Mycoacia , Radulodon , Steccherinum (Polyporales) and Sarcodontia .
Other hydnoid fungi include a group of conspicuous, wood-rotting species with long spines belonging to the genus Hericium (Russulales), often referred to as "tooth fungi". [13] The ear-pick fungus and other species of Auriscalpium (Russulales) are hydnoid, as is the odd jelly fungus Pseudohydnum gelatinosum (Auriculariales).
The distinction between polypores and hydnoid fungi is not always clear—irregular, split pores can also be interpreted as teeth. Consequently, some species are considered hydnoid or poroid depending on the context (e.g. Irpex lacteus ).
The Cantharellales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. The order includes not only the chanterelles (Cantharellaceae), but also some of the tooth fungi (Hydnaceae), clavarioid fungi, and corticioid fungi (Botryobasidiaceae). Species within the order are variously ectomycorrhizal, saprotrophic, associated with orchids, or facultative plant pathogens. Those of economic importance include edible and commercially collected Cantharellus, Craterellus, and Hydnum species as well as crop pathogens in the genera Ceratobasidium and Thanatephorus (Rhizoctonia).
Hydnellum peckii is a fungus in the genus Hydnellum of the family Bankeraceae. It is a hydnoid species, producing spores on the surface of vertical spines or tooth-like projections that hang from the undersurface of the fruit bodies. It is found in North America, Europe, and was recently discovered in Iran (2008) and Korea (2010). Hydnellum peckii is a mycorrhizal species, and forms mutually beneficial relationships with a variety of coniferous trees, growing on the ground singly, scattered, or in fused masses.
Hydnellum is a genus of tooth fungi in the family Bankeraceae. Widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, the genus contains around 40 species. The fruitbodies of its members grow by slowly enveloping nearby bits of grass and vegetation. There is great variability in the form of Hydnellum fruitbodies, which are greatly influenced by environmental conditions such as rainfall and humidity, drying winds, and temperature. They are too tough and woody to eat comfortably. Several species have become the focus of increasing conservation concern following widespread declines in abundance.
The Hydnaceae are a family of fungi in the order Cantharellales. Originally the family encompassed all species of fungi that produced basidiocarps having a hymenium consisting of slender, downward-hanging tapering extensions referred to as "spines" or "teeth", whether they were related or not. This artificial but often useful grouping is now more generally called the hydnoid or tooth fungi. In the strict, modern sense, the Hydnaceae are limited to the genus Hydnum and related genera, with basidiocarps having a toothed or poroid hymenium. Species in the family are ectomycorrhizal, forming a mutually beneficial relationship with the roots of trees and other plants. Hydnum repandum is an edible species, commercially collected in some countries and often marketed under the French name pied de mouton.
The Steccherinaceae are a family of about 200 species of fungi in the order Polyporales. It includes crust-like, toothed, and poroid species that cause a white rot in dead wood.
Bankera is a genus of four species of tooth fungi in the family Bankeraceae. The genus was first circumscribed in 1951 by William Chambers Coker and Alma Holland Beers, but this publication was invalid according to the rules of botanical nomenclature. It was later published validly by Zdeněk Pouzar in 1955. The type species is B. fuligineoalba. The genus is ectomycorrhizal with gymnosperms, usually with trees from the pine family.
Phellodon is a genus of tooth fungi in the family Bankeraceae. Species have small- to medium-sized fruitbodies with white spines on the underside from which spores are released. All Phellodon have a short stalk or stipe, and so the genus falls into the group known as stipitate hydnoid fungi. The tough and leathery flesh usually has a pleasant, fragrant odor, and develops a cork-like texture when dry. Neighboring fruitbodies can fuse, sometimes producing large mats of joined caps. Phellodon species produce a white spore print, while the individual spores are roughly spherical to ellipsoid in shape, with spiny surfaces.
Sarcodon is a genus of fungi in the family Bankeraceae, which is part of the order Thelephorales known for its almost universal ectomycorrhizal life style. The genus owes its name to the presence of teeth-like spines on the hymenophore, it is derived from ancient Greek; sarco = flesh and odon = tooth. This is why they are commonly called "tooth fungi", or "Hydnoid fungi".
Hydnellum aurantiacum is an inedible fungus, commonly known as the orange spine or orange Hydnellum for its reddish orange or rusty red colored fruit bodies. Like other tooth fungi, it bears a layer of spines rather than gills on the underside of the cap. Due to substantial declines in sightings, this species is listed as critically endangered in the United Kingdom.
Mycorrhaphium is a genus of fungi in the family Steccherinaceae. The genus was circumscribed by Dutch mycologist Rudolph Arnold Maas Geesteranus in 1962. The type species is Mycorrhaphium adustum. Fruit bodies of species in the genus have caps, stipes, and a hydnoid (tooth-like) hymenophore. There is a dimitic hyphal system, where the skeletal hyphae are found only in the tissue of the "teeth", and a lack of cystidia. The spores are smooth, hyaline (translucent), and inamyloid.
Steccherinum is a widely distributed genus of toothed crust fungi in the family Steccherinaceae.
Hydnellum ferrugineum, commonly known as the mealy tooth or the reddish-brown corky spine fungus, is a species of tooth fungus in the family Bankeraceae. A widely distributed species, it is found in north Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. The fungus fruits on the ground singly or in clusters in conifer forest, usually in poor or sandy soil. Fruit bodies are somewhat top-shaped, measuring 3–10 cm (1–4 in) in diameter. Their velvety surfaces, initially white to pink, sometimes exude drops of red liquid. The lower surface of the fruit body features white to reddish-brown spines up to 6 mm long. Mature fruit bodies become dark reddish brown in color, and are then difficult to distinguish from other similar Hydnellum species. H. ferrugineum forms a mat of mycelia in the humus and upper soil where it grows. The presence of the fungus changes the characteristics of the soil, making it more podzolized.
Phellodon sinclairii is a native tooth fungus found in beech forests of New Zealand. It was first described by Miles Joseph Berkeley in 1867 as a species of Hydnum in Joseph Dalton Hooker's work Handbook of the New Zealand Flora. The type locality was on Maungatua. Gordon Herriot Cunningham transferred the species to the genus Phellodon in 1958.
Hydnellum fuscoindicum is a species of tooth fungus in the genus Hydnellum. It is found in the Pacific Northwest in moss around western hemlocks. It produces fruit bodies with a violet-black cap, violet flesh, and violet spines on the cap underside. The odor and taste are very farinaceous. The fungus was first described by Kenneth A. Harrison in 1964 as a species of Hydnum, then transferred to Sarcodon in 1967 by Rudolph Arnold Maas Geesteranus. He placed this species in section Violacei of Sarcodon, along with H. fuligineoviolaceum and H. joeides.
Hydnellum scrobiculatum, commonly known as the ridged tooth, is a tooth fungus in the family Bankeraceae. Widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, it is found in Asia, Europe, and North America.
Phellodon niger, commonly known as the black tooth, is a species of tooth fungus in the family Bankeraceae, and the type species of the genus Phellodon. It was originally described by Elias Magnus Fries in 1815 as a species of Hydnum. Petter Karsten included it as one of the original three species when he circumscribed Phellodon in 1881. The fungus is found in Europe and North America, although molecular studies suggest that the North American populations represent a similar but genetically distinct species.
Hydnellum fuligineoviolaceum is a species of tooth fungus in the family Bankeraceae. It was originally described in 1874 by Hungarian mycologist Károly Kalchbrenner as Hydnum fuligineoviolaceum, in Elias Fries's work Hymenomycetes europaei. Narcisse Théophile Patouillard transferred it to the genus Sarcodon in 1900. Sarcodon talpa, published by Rudolph Arnold Maas Geesteranus in 1967, is a synonym.
Hydnellum joeides is a species of tooth fungus in the family Bankeraceae.
Sarcodon thwaitesii is a species of tooth fungus in the family Bankeraceae. It is found in Asia, Europe, and New Zealand, where it fruits on the ground in mixed forest.
Kenneth A. Harrison was a Canadian mycologist. He was for many years a plant pathologist at what is now the Atlantic Food and Horticulture Research Centre in Nova Scotia. After retirement, he contributed to the taxonomy of the Agaricomycotina, particularly the tooth fungi of the families Hydnaceae and Bankeraceae, in which he described several new species.
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