Sarcodon leucopus
Sarcodon leucopus is a species of tooth fungus in the family Bankeraceae. It is found in Asia and Europe, where it grows in association with pine trees. The fungus produces a pale brown fruiting body up to 20 cm across, with thin downward-pointing spines on its underside that start whitish and age to purplish-brown. It is considered near-threatened by the IUCN and endangered in Switzerland.
Taxonomy
The fungus was described as new to science in 1825 by Christian Hendrik Persoon. The mycologists Rudolph Arnold Maas Geesteranus and John Axel Nannfeldt transferred it to the genus Sarcodon in 1969.Description
Sarcodon leucopus produces a fleshy, pale brown fruit body up to 20 cm in diameter, borne on a central or slightly off‑centre stipe. When young, the cap is cushion‑shaped before flattening out or developing a shallow central depression. Its surface is initially covered in a fine, velvety down, soon becoming smooth yet remaining soft in fresh specimens. The surface of older caps later cracks to form shiny scales. Colouration ranges from medium brown to a pale purplish‑brown. On the underside, the hymenophore consists of slender spines up to 5 mm long that run down the stipe ; these begin whitish, then age through grey and brown to purplish‑brown. The stipe measures long by thick.The flesh is white, soft and fibrous, up to 1 cm thick, and often emits a spicy odour; the taste is distinctly bitter. When cut, the context may stain greenish to pink. The stipe measures up to 7 cm tall by 2–3 cm wide, is cylindrical, and is finely felted at first before becoming fibrillose or entirely smooth; it is whitish when young, often turning grey or greenish towards the base with age.
Microscopically, the hyphae bear clamp connections and can reach 20 μm in width. The basidiospores are brown, coarsely angular and irregularly outlined, measuring 7–9 by 5–7 μm.