Sarcodon imbricatus (L.: Fr.) Karsten
Revue Mycol. 3(9): 20. 1881.

Common Name: none

Synonym: Hydnum imbricatum

• Pileus

  Cap 5-25 cm broad, convex, depressed to infundibulate at the center, margin at first inrolled, becoming decurved, sometimes wavy or lobed; surface dry, consisting of coarse, dark-brown to almost black, erect scales on a pallid to light brown background, in age the scales sometimes partially weathering away; flesh thick, soft, cream to buff, unchanging; odor: mild; taste: mild to bitter.

• Hymenophore

  Teeth 0.5-1.0 cm long, pallid, becoming light to medium-brown, often decurrent.

• Stipe

  Stipe 3.5-8 cm tall, 2-3.5 cm thick, stout, tapering downward or enlarged at the base, solid, but at maturity the apex often hollow; surface dry, colored like the cap with appressed fibrils or fibrillose, attachment central to eccentric; veil absent.

• Spores

  Spores 6-7.5 x 5-6.5 µm, broadly elliptical to nearly round, tuberculate; spore print brown.

• Habitat

  Scattered, or in arcs in mixed hardwood/conifer woods; fruiting from after the fall rains through mid-winter.

• Edibility

  Edible when young and not bitter. Montane collections are better than coastal collections.

• Comments

  A handsome and often large mushroom, Sarcodon imbricatus is distinguished by a coarse, dark-scaled cap and brown-toothed fertile surface. Sarcodon scabrosum is similar but is less scaly, very bitter, and its context turns blue-green in KOH. Hydnellum is a related genus containing tough, leathery to woody species. None is likely however, to be confused with Sarcodon imbricatus which has a fleshy context.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Michael Wood: Sarcodon imbricatus (CP)
  • Il Mondo dei Funghi: Sarcodon imbricatum (D & CP)
  • George Barron's Fungi of Canada (East): Sarcodon imbricatus (D & CP)
  • Page perso de JJ.Wuilbaut: Sarcodon imbricatus (CP)
  • Pilze, Pilze, Pilze: Sarcodon imbricatus (CP)
  • Arora (1986): p. 619 (D), plate 159 (CP) [Hydnum imbricatum]
  • Arora (1991): p. 205 (D & CP)
  • Breitenbach & Kränzlin (vol. 2): sp. 275 (D, I, & CP)
  • Jordan: p. 124 (D & CP)
  • Lincoff: p. 434 (D), plate 466 (CP) [Hydnum imbricatum]
  • McKenny et al.: p. 173 (D & CP)
  • Miller: sp. 337 (D & CP) [Hydnum imbricatum]
  • Orr & Orr: p. 54 (D)
  • Phillips: p. 276 (D), p. 277 (CP)
  • Smith & Weber: sp. 41 (D & CP) [Hydnum imbricatum]
  • Tylutki (1987): p.150 (D)

  (D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)