Bear's Head Tooth Fungus, Coral Tooth Mushroom, Kammetjesstekelzwam (Netherlands).

What You Should Know

Hericium americanum is a very rare and beautiful tooth coral mushroom. It has white to slightly yellow long spines and a branched fruiting body. The inside of the fruiting body is a bit like a tuber. Grows on dead wood, live trees, hardwoods, and on conifers. The fruiting bodies appear from September to October.

It is edible when young and white. The taste of the Hericium americanum is similar to a fish or shellfish or lobster (depends on your taste). This allows them to make crab cakes and soups, as well as be pan-fried and added to other foods.

This mushroom shows promise in treating a variety of issues such as Alzheimer’s disease, digestive problems, and even cancer.

Other names: Bear's Head Tooth Fungus, Coral Tooth Mushroom, Kammetjesstekelzwam (Netherlands).

Hericium americanum Mushroom Identification

1. Fruiting Body

   15-30 cm across; consisting of a tightly branched structure arising from a rooting base; with densely packed spines 0.5-4 cm long hanging from the branches in clusters or rows; white, or in age discoloring brownish to yellowish.

2. Flesh

   White; not changing when sliced.

3. Spore Print

   White.

4. Habitat

   Saprobic and possibly parasitic; growing alone or gregariously; fruiting on dead hardwood logs and stumps, or from the wounds of living hardwoods; documented to fruit (rarely) on conifer wood; late summer and fall; east of the Great Plains.

5. Microscopic Features

   Spores 5-7 x 4.5-6 µ; elliptical or subglobose; amyloid; smooth or minutely rough.

Hericium americanum Look-Alikes

1. Hydnum rufescens and Hydnum repandum

   Have downward-projecting spines, but they are attached to a smooth-topped cap.

2. Hericium cirrhatum

   Has shorter spines and a much thinner bracket-like tiered fruitbody.

3. Hericium erinaceus

   Young species of the Hericium americanum are very similar to this mushroom.

Hericium americanum Synonyms and Varieties

• Clavaria madreporaeformis Retz., 1779

• Dryodon acicularis (Sacc.) Bourdot, 1932

• Dryodon clathroides (Pall.) P. Karst., 1882

• Dryodon coralloides (Scop.) P. Karst., 1881

• Dryodon coralloides caput-ursi (Fr.) Bourdot & Galzin, 1928

• Friesites caput-ursi (Fr.) P. Karst., 1879

• Friesites coralloides (Scop.) P. Karst., 1879

• Hericium abietinum (Schrad.) Schleich., 1821

• Hericium abietis f. brevispineum (Peck) D. Hall & D.E. Stuntz, 1971

• Hericium alpestre caput-ursi (Fr.) Nikol., 1950

• Hericium alpestre f. caput-ursi (Fr.) Nikol., 1950

• Hericium caput-ursi (Fr.) Corner, 1955

• Hericium clathroides (Pall.) Pers., 1797

• Hericium coralloides f. caput-ursi (Bourdot & Galzin) Nikol., 1950

• Hericium laciniatum (Leers) Banker, 1906

• Hericium ramosum (Bull.) Letell., 1826

• Hericium ramosum caput-ursi (Fr.) D. Hall & D.E. Stuntz, 1971

• Hericium ramosum f. caput-ursi (Fr.) D. Hall & D.E. Stuntz, 1971

• Hericium reichii Opiz, 1851

• Hydnum abietinum Schrad., 1794

• Hydnum aciculare Sacc., 1880

• Hydnum caput-ursi Fr., 1863

• Hydnum clathroides Pall., 1773

• Hydnum coralloides Scop., 1772

• Hydnum coralloides var. abietinum (Schrad.) Pers., 1801

• Hydnum laciniatum Leers, 1775

• Hydnum novae-zelandiae Colenso, 1889

• Hydnum ramosum Bull., 1789

• Hydnum stalactiticum Schrank, 1786

• Manina caput-ursi (Fr.) Banker, 1912

• Manina coralloides (Scop.) Banker, 1912

• Medusina coralloides (Scop.) Chevall., 1826

• Merisma coralloides (Scop.) Spreng., 1827

Recipe: Simple Fried Coral Tooth Mushrooms

How to cook

1. Preheat a frying pan, put butter (for every 1.76oz/50g of mushroom, a cube of 1.2in/3сm).

2. Put the coral tooth mushroom, salt and pepper, first under the lid for 10 minutes over moderate heat, evaporate excess moisture over medium heat with the lid open for 5-7 minutes.

3. Done! Add more salt or pepper if needed.

4. Optionally, the mushrooms can be fried with onions and herbs, and the oil can be replaced with vegetable oil.

Recipe: Roasted Coral Tooth Mushroom Salad

Ingredients

1. Coral tooth mushroom - 1/3 cup

2. Onions - 1 head

3. Chicken eggs - 2 pieces

4. Cucumber - 2 pieces

5. Raw smoked sausage (can be replaced with boiled pepper meat or poultry) - 1/4 cup

6. Vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons

7. Salt - 1 tablespoon

8. Ground black pepper - on the tip of a knife

How to cook

1. Clean well and rinse in cold water Coral mushroom.

2. Preheat a frying pan, add oil and put out the coral mushroom.

3. Simmer the coral mushroom for 10 minutes under the lid.

4. Peel and finely chop the onion.

5. Add the onion to the coral mushroom in a skillet and fry with the lid open for 7-10 minutes until golden brown.

6. Salt and pepper, taste.

7. Boil chicken eggs, cool, peel and chop finely.

8. Wash cucumbers, cut and chop them into thin strips.

9. Dice the raw smoked sausage.

10. Put the fried coral tooth mushroom in a bowl, add eggs, cucumbers and smoked sausage.

11. Stir the salad, add salt and pepper to taste, season with sour cream or sauce.

Recipe: Pickled Crown Coral Tooth Mushrooms

Ingredients

1. Salt – 1.5 tsp

2. Coral tooth mushroom – 1.5 lbs

3. Water – 3 cups

4. White vinegar – 1/3 cup

5. Garlic – 2 cloves of garlic

6. Optional add a dried chilli, favorite herbs, thyme or savory.

How to cook

1. Separate the coral tooth mushroom into clusters and wash them in cool water.

2. In a wide pan boil the water and add salt, vinegar, garlic, herbs. Heat and leave the mixture to infuse for 4 minutes.

3. Remove the herbs and garlic. Taste the mixture if need add more garlic or other spicy.

4. Add the coral tooth mushroom to the mixture and stir few seconds.

5. When the mushrooms are wilted replace them into 1/2 pint canning jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headroom at the top of each jar to prevent them from exploding.

6. Tightly close jars and process them in a water bath canner for 10 minutes.

Recipe: Crown Tipped Coral Parmesan Crackers

Ingredients

1. Coral tooth mushroom - 1/2 cup

2. Grated Parmesan - 3 tablespoons

3. All purpose flour - 2 tablespoons

4. A pinch of the salt

5. Flavorless cooking oil

How to cook

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F/165°C. Toss the coral tooth mushroom, parmesan, pinch of salt, and flour together in a mixing bowl, then make small mounds roughly the size of a 1/4 cup on a baking sheet.

2. Flatten out the mounds lightly, then spray with oil and bake for 35 minutes, or until the mushrooms have wilted and the cheese and flour are very crisp.

3. Few times flip the crackers occasionally. Remember cheese should be golden, and the crackers evenly crisp, but not burnt.

4. Remove the crackers, cool them, and serve.

Recipe: Coral Tooth Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

1. 17 oz coral tooth mushroom

2. 5 potatoes

3. 2 carrots

4. 8 cups of water

5. Bulb

6. Parsley root

7. 2 tbsp. l. melted butter

8. Vegetable oil for frying

9. Salt, pepper and bay leaf

How to cook

1. Clean and cut the mushrooms into large pieces, fry in butter.

2. Transfer them to a saucepan, pour 8 cups of water and cook for 30 minutes.

3. Chop potatoes, carrots, onions and parsley root. Add to mushrooms and cook for another 30 minutes. Pepper, salt, add bay leaf. Cook for 5 minutes.

Sources:

Photo 1 - Author: John Carl Jacobs (JCJacobs) (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)

Photo 2 - Author: John Carl Jacobs (JCJacobs) (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)

Photo 3 - Author: John Carl Jacobs (JCJacobs) (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)

Photo 4 - Author: walt sturgeon (Mycowalt) (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)

Photo 5 - Author: Thomas Stoughton (Tstou10) (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)