Bleeding Tooth Fungus

Growing among the trees is a fungus that looks like it’s bleeding, on this episode we bring you the world’s weirdest mushroom.

Going by the names strawberries and cream, bleeding hydnellum, bleeding tooth fungus, red-juice tooth and devil’s tooth this mushroom is a mycorrhizal species that forms mutually beneficial relationships with coniferous trees, growing on the ground singly, scattered, or in fused masses.

The Inedible but non toxic bleeding tooth fungus is a hydnoid species producing spores on the surface of the vertical spines or tooth like projections that hang from the undersurface of the fruit bodies. It was first described scientifically in 1913 by American mycologist Howard James Banker.

They were discovered in North America and Europe but more recently in Iran in 2008 and Korea in 2010. More commonly found in the Pacific Northwest they are present as far north as Alaska and as far east as North Carolina. In the puget sound region they are found growing among douglas fir, hemlock, lodgepole pine and fir trees. In Europe they have been documented in Germany, Italy, and Scotland. Other European countries like Czech Republic, Norway and the Netherlands once had healthy populations of the fungus but it is believed pollution is the reason they are so hard to find in these countries.

Over time the mushroom will change color from white, with the red juice obs to brown with dark patches going back to a more normal looking mushroom. When mature, the surface becomes tough, scaly, jagged and fibrous.

Featuring flesh that is marked with concentric lines that form alternating pale and darker zones, a sweetish odor that is similar to that of hickory nuts and immensely peppery taste the bleeding hydnellum can reach a height of 4 inches or 10 cm on average but has been seen as big as 8 inches or 20 cm.

Have you seen such a bizarre mushroom before let us know in the comments down below.

Footage:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/corydalina/104135809

Check out some of our other videos:

Top 10 Fruits You’ve Never Heard Of Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRdgPyZF45g&feature=youtu.be
Top 10 Fruits You’ve Never Heard Of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKTej1u-7-0&feature=youtu.be

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Intro music thanks to Machinmasound:
Rallying the Defense:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruPk4RD19Nw

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