Coral Tooth

Hericium coralloides

Edible

Also called comb tooth, coral hedgehog.

The coral tooth is a white, delicately branched fungus with short spines hanging in rows along its branches. It grows on dead hardwood logs and stumps in late summer and fall and is the most finely branched of the North American Hericium species.

A white coral tooth fungus, a dense mass of branches covered in fine spines, against a dark background

The tell

White, finely branched fungus with short spines in rows along the branches, like icicles.

Field marks

What to look at

Cap, underside and stem show in a photo. The spore print does not, and it is often the deciding check.

Cap
No true cap. A white, much-branched, coral-like mass that yellows to tan with age.
Underside
Spines instead of gills, short, usually under 0.5 inch (about 1 cm), hanging in rows along the undersides of the branches like a comb.
Stem
A short base attached to the wood.
Flesh
White, soft and brittle. Smell is mild.
Spore print
White.
Size
3 to 10 inches across (8 to 25 cm).

Where and when

Where and when it grows

Habitat
Hardwood forests.
Grows on
Dead hardwood logs and stumps, especially beech, maple and oak.
Season
Late summer to fall.
Range
Widespread across North America on hardwoods, with related Hericium species on conifers in the West.

Lookalikes

What the coral tooth gets confused with

Each card says how to tell the two apart.

Edibility

What the field guides say

Edible

Field guides list the coral tooth as edible when young and white. Like other Hericium species, it becomes tougher and yellowish with age, and guides record no toxic species with the same spined, branched form.

This page states what field guides record. It is not advice to eat, taste or handle anything, and a photo cannot settle edibility. If someone has eaten a wild mushroom that may be toxic, call poison control (1-800-222-1222 in the US) right away, before symptoms start: the deadliest species act hours later.

FAQ

Questions about the coral tooth

Is coral tooth fungus edible?

Field guides list Hericium coralloides as edible when young and white. It is less fleshy than lion's mane because of its fine branches and short spines.

What does coral tooth fungus look like?

A white, delicately branched mass like a piece of coral, with short spines hanging in neat rows along the branches like icicles or the teeth of a comb. It grows from the side of dead hardwood logs and stumps.

How is coral tooth different from bear's head tooth?

Coral tooth has finer branches and short spines, usually under half an inch, in rows along the branches. Bear's head tooth has longer spines hanging in tufts from the branch tips.

Sources

Where these facts come from

  1. Hericium coralloides

    MushroomExpert.com

  2. Hericium coralloides

    Fungi Growing on Wood, Gary Emberger (MushroomExpert.com)

  3. Comb Tooth

    Missouri Department of Conservation

  4. Hericium coralloides

    Index Fungorum

Waitlist

Hear when it opens

We will send one email when Mushrooms.id opens, and nothing else.

Email us to join

This opens your email app with the request written for you. Send it and we add you to the list. No email app? Write to hello@mushrooms.id with the subject “Add me to the Mushrooms.id waitlist”.