Hydnellum suaveolens
Meddn Soc. Fauna Flora fenn. 5: 41. 1880.
Common Name: none
For descriptions see Hall & Stuntz & 'California Mushrooms'.
Solitary to scattered, seldom connate, in duff under conifers, especially Sitka spruce; fruiting from fall through mid-winter in northern coastal coniferous forests.
Unknown.
Hydnellum suaveolens is easily recognized by its bluish black stipe with deep blue context and strong fragrant odor. Additional characters include a white to grayish tan or grayish brown cap, short grayish brown spines, and growth primarily with Sitka spruce. Two other California Hydnellum species have blue tissues. Hydnellum cyanopodium is similar to H. suaveolens, but its bluish vinaceous cap exudes bright red droplets (like H. peckii), and it forms tetrahedral spores. Hydnellum caeruleum has a cap with white to blue margin and brown disc, the context in the stipe base is rusty to reddish brown (not blue), and the odor and taste are farinaceous.
Arora, D. (1986). Mushrooms Demystified. Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, CA. 959 p.
Baird, R.E. (1986). Study of the stipitate hydnums for the Southern Appalachian Mountains—Genera: Bankera, Hydnellum, Phellodon, Sarcodon. (Bibliotheca Mycologia: Band 103). J. Cramer: Berlin, Germany. 156 p.
Baird, R.E. (1986). Type Studies of North American and Other Related Taxa of Stipitate Hydnums: Genera Bankera, Hydnellum, Phellodon, Sarcodon (Bibliotheca Mycologia: Band 103). J. Cramer: Berlin, Germany. 89 p.
Breitenbach, J. & Kränzlin, F. (1986). Fungi of Switzerland. Volume 2: Non-Gilled Fungi. Verlag Mykologia: Luzern, Switzerland. 412 p.
Coker, W.C. & Beers, A.H. (1951). The Stipitate Hydnums of the Eastern United States. The University of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill, NC. 211 p.
Desjardin, D.E., Wood, M.G. & Stevens, F.A. (2015). California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide. Timber Press: Portland, OR. 560 p.
Hall, D. & Stuntz, D.E. (1972). Pileate Hydnaceae of the Puget Sound Area III. Brown-Spored Genus: Hydnellum. Mycologia 64(3): 560-590. (PDF)
Siegel, N. & Schwarz, C. (2016). Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast. Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, CA. 601 p.
