''Hericium coralloides'' is a

saprotroph Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi (f ...

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...

, commonly known as the coral tooth fungus. It grows on dead

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

trees. The species is edible and good when young, but as it ages the branches and hanging spines become brittle and turn a light shade of yellowish brown. Found September 23, 1997 in Vilas County, Wisconsin near water, high in the wound of a living tree. The dried specimen lives at the UWSP Herbarium.

References

Edible fungi Fungal plant pathogens and diseases Fungi described in 1772 Russulales Fungi of Europe {{Russulales-stub