Hydnum aff. repandum L. : Fr.

Common name: Hedgehog Fungus (in Europe).

Description: This species has caps that may reach up to 6 cm in diameter (commonly 24 cm). The cap is creamy white or brownish, orange-tinted (or sometimes apricot-tinted), smooth and convex but often contorted. The undersurface is covered by tiny spines, each about 5 mm long and more or less coloured the same as the cap surface. The spines are found right to the stem and may travel a little way down its surface. The stem is usually 25 cm long and 1.52 cm thick and is the same colour as the cap surface. The stem is solid, smooth, dry and cylindrical. The smell is pleasant.

The spores measure 68.5 × 56.5 µm and are ellipsoidal to subglobose, smooth, and colourless or white in mass.

Substratum: Hydnum aff. repandum is found on soil among litter or moss in forests. It usually occurs in twos or threes but, under ideal conditions, may be found in large troops.

Distribution: Known from all eastern mainland States, Tasmania and Western Australia.

Notes: This species has been variously named in Australia and its exact relationship to the European Hydnum repandum is not yet completely certain. It may be the same species; however, there seems to be variation in colour reactions in the flesh of some collections. The European species is considered a good edible fungus.