Hericium ramosum (Bull.) Letell.
Hist. Desc. Champ. 43. 1826.

Common Name: none

• Sporocarp

  Fruiting body annual, up to 40 cm broad, 20 cm tall, a loosely, branched structure arising from a short, tough, stalk, laterally attached to the substrate; individual branches slender, brittle; spines 3-8 mm long, pendant, arranged in rows; color: white when fresh, in age becoming cream, buff to buff-brown; flesh white, soft, except tough at the base; odor and taste mild.

• Spores

  Spores 3.5-4.5 x 3.0-3.5 µm, nearly round to oval, smooth, amyloid; spores white in deposit.

• Habitat

  Solitary or in small groups on hardwood logs; fruiting from after the start of the fall rains to mid-season.

• Edibility

  Edible and good.

• Comments

  Hericium ramosum is the most delicate of the three species that occur in our area. It has a loose, open branched structure, and relatively short spines which are arranged in rows except for the branch tips where they are tufted. Hericium erinaceus, more common than H. ramosum, also grows on hardwood logs, can be distinguished by an unbranched cushion-shaped base from which hang long, slender, white to cream-colored teeth. Hericum abietus has a fruiting body intermediate in structure between H. ramosum and H. erincaceus. It grows on conifer logs, sometimes forming impressive, large, white to cream-colored fruitings.

• References

  Hall, D. & Stuntz, D.E. (1971). Pileate Hydnaceae of the Puget Sound Area. I. White-Spored Genera: Auriscalpium, Hericium, Dentinum and Phellodon. Mycologia 63(6): 1099-1128.
  Harrison, K.A. (1973). The Genus Hericium in North America. Michigan Botanist 12: 177-194.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Fred Stevens: Hericium ramosum (CP)
  • Nathan Wilson: Hericium ramosum (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Hericium ramosum (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Hericium ramosum (CP)
  • Mushroom Observer: Hericium ramosum (CP)
  • Eileen's Mushroom Mania: Hericium ramosum (CP)
  • Arora (1986): p. 615 (D & P), plate 164 (CP)
  • Lincoff: p. 431 (D), plate 549 (CP)
  • Phillips: p. 278 (D), p. 279 (CP)
  • Smith & Weber: sp. 38 (D & CP)
  • Tylutki (1987): p. 140 (D & P)
  
  

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