Hedgehog mushrooms

Hydnum spp.

mushroom

A sturdy mushroom with a bumpy cream to orange cap; underneath, no gills but thousands of small spines running down the stem. Firm, perfect pan-fried. It provides beta-glucans.

Origin

Forests of Europe

Season (United States)

September to December · grows in your region

Preparation

In large ones, the spines are scraped off: they turn bitter. No toxic look-alike: the other toothed mushrooms are at worst bitter or tough. If you pick it yourself, have the mushroom checked by a pharmacist or a mycological society before eating it.

Molecules

Mushroom beta-glucansIn small amounts, not counted Ergothioneine

Did you know?

Its genus name, Hydnum, comes from the Greek for “tuber”, which once meant the truffle, for its bumpy cap; and repandum, “turned up”, describes the edge of its cap.