Coral tooth fungus
Hericium coralloides · Tooth fungi (Hericium)
Special mushroom – look, don’t pick Red List: Threatened (extent unknown) (G)
Season, habitat and weather analysis for your place →
Recognise it safely – what matters
- White and branched like coral
- Short spines hang along the branches
- On dead broadleaf wood, mostly beech
Features
- Cap
- No cap: pure white, much-branched, coral-like fruit body, 10–30 cm, cream-yellow with age.
- Underside
- Short spines (0.5–1.5 cm) hanging in rows from the branches like icicles.
- Stem
- Short common base on the wood from which the branches fork.
- Flesh
- White, soft and brittle.
- Smell
- Mild.
- Spore print
- White.
Season
Habitat
On fallen and standing dead wood of broadleaf trees, mainly beech, in near-natural forests with plenty of thick dead wood.
Faggio
Risk of confusion
Hericium flagellum Very similar, but on silver fir and with longer spines at the branch tips.
Lion's mane A compact ball without branches, with long spines.
Never identify mushrooms by pictures or an app alone. When in doubt, ask a mushroom expert – and only pick what you know for sure.