Auriscalpium vulgare
Description
Auriscalpium vulgare is an unmistakable, but usually inconspicuous, fungus. It is small, dark brown, hairy, and the stipe is lateral. Current evidence suggests it is related to the gilled fungus Lentinellus, the coralloid Clavicorona, the poroid Albatrellus, and other relatives of the russulas, including the fellow spine-fungus, Hericium. The fruit bodies grow on conifer litter or on conifer cones that may be partially or completely buried in the soil. The stem is tough and fuzzy and usually extends from the side of the cap, making the mushroom look like a little periscope sent up from a pine-cone submarine. Flesh brown to almost black, dry, leathery tough. Odor and taste are unobtrusive. Usually, there are only one or two mushrooms on a pine cone.
From May, new specimens grow on lying or buried pine cones. After overwintering, these fungi are colored rather inconspicuously brown-black and often overgrown with green algae.
Common names: Ear-Pick Fungus, Ear-Spoon Fungus, Pinecone Mushroom, Pinecone Tooth, lžičkovec šiškový (Czech Republic), Oorlepelzwam (Netherlands), Ohrlöffelstacheling (German).
Mushroom Identification
Cap
1-3 cm across; broadly convex or flat; kidney-shaped or almost circular in outline; dry; hairy, sometimes becoming smooth with age; reddish-brown to dark brown or nearly black.
Undersurface
Spines 1-3 mm long; white at first, becoming brownish; crowded.
Stem
2-7 cm long; up to 3 mm thick; usually lateral; tough; reddish-brown to dark brown; hairy; sometimes attached to a spongy underground portion, when the cone is buried in duff.
Flesh
Whitish to brownish; tough and thin.
Odor and Taste
Odor not distinctive; taste mild or slightly bitter.
Spore Print
White.
Chemical Reactions
KOH on cap and stem instantly black.
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Habitat
Saprobic on the cones of conifers - especially pines and Douglas-fir; growing alone or gregariously (up to 4 or 5 mushrooms per cone); late fall and early winter, or overwinter in warmer climates; widely distributed in North America. Mainly found in forests on very nutrient-poor and calcareous soil.
Microscopic Features
Spores 3.5-6 µ; broadly elliptical to nearly round; smooth, or becoming finely spiny when mature; amyloid. Cystidia scattered; fusoid, with or without a swollen apex; contents refractive in KOH.
Look-Alikes
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Also fruits on Douglas-fir cones.
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Fruits on spruce cones
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Fruits on pine cones.
Growing
Auriscalpium vulgare can be grown in pure culture on agar-containing plates supplemented with nutrients. The colonies that grow are white to pale cream, and cover the agar surface within six weeks from the initial inoculation. The mycelium is made of bent-over hyphae, without any aerial hyphae (hyphae that extend above the surface of the agar). Typically, two indistinct zones develop at about 6 mm and 15 mm from the initial inoculum spot, with each zone roughly 4 mm wide. The zones appear somewhat lighter in color because the hyphae are more closely packed and form crystalline substances that deposit into the agar.
The mature mycelium consists of thin-walled, densely packed hyphae that are 1.5–3.2 µm in diameter. They are often gnarled or somewhat spiral (subhelicoid), and frequently branched at an angle of about 45°, with a clamp at the base of the branch. They contain amorphous granules that appear refractive when viewed under phase contrast microscopy, and their walls are often encrusted with tiny granules. Gloeocystidia (thin-walled cystidia with refractive, frequently granular contents) are common; they measure 50–85 by 6.5–8.5 µm, and are club-shaped (sometimes elongated), thin-walled, and often have one or two lobes with rounded tips. Containing foamy and pale yellow contents, they are a refractive yellow color under phase contrast. Initially they are erect but they soon fall under their own weight to lie on the agar surface. Crystalline deposits are abundant as small, randomly scattered plate-like or star-like crystals.
Fruiting begins about six weeks after the initial inoculation on the agar plate, but only when portions of fruit bodies (spines or stem sections) are used as the inoculum to initiate growth; the use of mycelium as the inoculum precludes subsequent fruiting. Mature fruit bodies grow very close to the initial site of inoculation—within 3 mm—and take about 60 days to mature after they first start to form.
History
In 1753 Carl Linnaeus describe this species. Linnaeus placed three other tooth fungi in the genus Hydnum: H. imbricatum, H. repandum, and H. tomentosum.
In 1821, Samuel Frederick Gray considered H. auriscalpium to be sufficiently distinct from the other Hydnum species to warrant the creation of a new genus, Auriscalpium, to contain it. In the process, its name was changed to Auriscalpium vulgare.
Otto Kuntze and Howard James Banker later independently sought to restore Linnaeus' species name, but the resulting combination (Auriscalpium auriscalpium) is a tautonym and disallowed under the rules for botanical nomenclature (ICBN 2005 rule 23.4), and these combinations are therefore no longer validly published.
The specific epithet vulgare means "common". The generic name Auriscalpium is Latin for "ear pick" and refers to a small, scoop-shaped instrument used to remove foreign matter from the ear.
Synonyms and Varieties
Hydnum auriscalpium L., 1753
Auriscalpium auriscalpium (L.) Kuntze 1898
Auriscalpium fechtneri (Velen.) Nikol. 1964
Hydnum atrotomentosum Schwalb 1891
Hydnum auriscalpium L. 1753
Hydnum fechtneri Velen. 1922
Leptodon auriscalpium (L.) Quél. 1886
Pleurodon auriscalpium (L.) P. Karst. 1881
Pleurodon fechtneri (Velen.) Cejp 1928
Scutiger auriscalpium (L.) Paulet 1812
Hydnum auriscalpium L. var. auriscalpium 1753
Hydnum auriscalpium var. bicolor Alb. & Schwein. 1805
Hydnum auriscalpium var. spadiceum Alb. & Schwein. 1805
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