Hydnellum Peckii Research Paper

Hydnellum peckii goes by many common names. It is commonly known as Strawberries and Cream, the Bleeding Hydnellum, the Red-Juice Tooth, and the Devil’s Tooth. The fungus earns this name from the look of its fruiting body. The newly fruited mushroom body is a cream color with blood red secretions. Tooth-like projections emerge from the underside of the fungi’s cap. These teeth are slender, are less than five millimeters long, and are the structures that produce the spores on the fruiting body. When the fruiting bodies have matures they become tough, fibrous, and turn from a soft cream color to a grayish brown one. The fruiting body is a cap atop a stipe or a stipitate hydnoid fungus and can reach a height of ten and a half centimeters. …show more content…
They have also been seen in parts of Europe like Italy, Germany, and Scotland. Recently they have also been discovered in Iran and Korea. They thrive in mountainous or sub-alpine ecosystems. They are located in coniferous forests growing among mosses and pine needles. The fungi can grow alone, scattered, or clustered together. Ecological factors like moister, temperature, and availability of organic material to support their growth determines the overall distribution of the fungi along the forest floor. When multiple fruits are clustered together they can fuse creating irregular shapes, this is called confluence. A mutual relationship with tree roots has been established between some of the surrounding coniferous plants and Hydnellum Peckii. Enzymes produced by the fungus convert organic compounds into absorbable forms and also improve that plant’s mineral absorption capabilities. In return the fungi get a fixed carbon supply from the host