We call them hedgehogs, but in fact they are the mushrooms known as Hydnum repandum. They are easy to identify, as they are the only tan coloured mushroom you’re going to find in the woods with teeth rather than pores or gills. The ones I found today were smallish, less than two inches in height, but I have found them a full inch better.

Hedgehogs taste rather like a chanterelle, meaning they are a choice edible. I only know of one spot where I can dependably find them. I’ve been checking it just about every week, as it is on the way to other spots I frequent. Today was the first day I saw them, and they were in the very same spot I found them last year. I’ve roamed a good piece of this forest a number of times, but the hedgehogs always seem to be with in 5 metre circle, steps from where I park the car. I have a chanterelle spot in the same forest that never yields many mushrooms but often provides enough for a dinner or two. Another part of the same woods sometimes yields lobster mushrooms, but not in the quantities I find elsewhere. So when I stop here, I check for hedgehogs, take the three minute walk needed to check the chanterelle spot, then backtrack over to where the lobsters appear. The dogs and I can be in and out of that forest in less than half an hour with all the mushrooms we’re likely to get. This has taught me the lesson that it is worthwhile going back to the same forests again and again, learning what appears where and when. Later, you can hop from spot to spot.

As the photo shows, I didn’t get a huge number of hedgehogs, but certainly enough to make the stop. One of the things I really like about this mushroom is that slugs and bugs don’t seem to like them nearly as much as they like chanterelles. I cooked these up tonight and added them to an omelette. When you chop them up, many of the teeth simply fall off. It isn’t necessary to remove them, but I understand some people like to do so.

There are other toothed mushrooms around as well. I have found two different ones, both not edible, in a hemlock forest I like to visit. There are also large white toothed fungi that are reputed to be tasty edibles. I hope to find one this year.