Estimated value
$6–18/lb fresh
Clean, unbug-eaten caps ~$6–12/lb at PNW stations. Easy seller — almost no lookalikes.
culinary · choice
Hedgehog / Sweet Tooth
Hydnum repandum
Also called Wood hedgehog, Pied de mouton
Field marks
- Spore print
- White
- Smell
- Mild, slightly sweet
- Trees / hosts
- Fir, Hemlock, Spruce, Beech
- Elevation
- Low to mid elevation.
Description
Pale peach to cream mushroom with spines (teeth) under the cap instead of gills or pores. Flesh is brittle and stains slightly orange. One of the safest wild edibles on Earth.
Where it grows
Mossy conifer and mixed woods.
How to find it
Same mossy conifer ground as chanterelles, often later in the season. They hide under sword ferns. Follow old chanterelle patches into November.
How to pick
Cut at the base. Spines shed in the bag — that is normal. Firm young caps keep best.
Medicinal notes
Culinary only.
Psychoactive / controlled
None.
Law
Legal food species with standard forage permits.
Lookalikes
Other Hydnum / Sarcodon
Dark, bitter, or scaly toothed fungi are not H. repandum. Pale peach + mild taste is the tell.
Field ID ticket
Tick every required mark in the woods. 0/3 required. This still is not laboratory certainty.
Do not eat or sell this specimen. Missing required marks.