Bleeding Tooth Fungus
The bleeding tooth fungus (Hydnellum peckii) is a conifer-forest fungus whose young white fruiting bodies exude bright red droplets, as if bleeding. It has spines on the underside instead of gills or pores.
The bleeding tooth fungus (Hydnellum peckii) is a conifer-forest fungus whose young white fruiting bodies exude bright red droplets, as if bleeding. It has spines on the underside instead of gills or pores.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Bleeding Tooth Fungus in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Opisthokonta lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
Red Droplets: What Are They?
The fluid is excess sap forced out of the young fungus (guttation). It contains a pigment, atromentin, that has anticoagulant properties like heparin. The function of the droplets in the fungus is unknown.
A Forest Partner
The fungus forms mycorrhizae with conifers in cool northern forests and depends on undisturbed old forest soil. The fruiting bodies are bitter and inedible.
Conservation
Hydnoid mycorrhizal fungi have declined where forests are logged or soils are enriched by nitrogen pollution, and the bleeding tooth is on regional red lists in parts of Europe.
Bleeding Tooth Fungus at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Hydnellum peckii |
| Kingdom | Fungi |
| Phylum | Basidiomycota |
| Class | Agaricomycetes |
| Order | Thelephorales |
| Family | Bankeraceae |
| Field Guide group | Opisthokonta: Fungi (True Fungi & Lichens) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Funnel-shaped velvety cap exuding brilliant red droplets, with spore-bearing teeth on its underside. |
| IUCN Red List status | Not Evaluated (NE): no global IUCN assessment |
| Order | Thelephorales |
| Pigment | Atromentin |