Hericiaceae - Hericium and Dentipellis

Hericium abietis WNA - This western North American species is our most abundant species, found on conifers. It has clumps of spines all over.

Hericium americanum PN - This very similar eastern North American species is reported uncommonly here on hardwoods, but we need local sequences to prove they are being identified correctly. Amazingly, it has the same ITS DNA as the very different looking Hericium erinaceus and cannot be told apart by only sequencing that one gene. It used to be called Hericium coralloides until it was finally determined that European species is actually something that looks quite different, as explained below.

Hericium aff coralloides EU - This hardwood species has its spines arranged in rows along its branches, like a comb. Our local species is genetically distinct from the European sequences, but worldwide sequences vary only by 3% or less, so it's hard to say if this is one genetically diverse species worldwide or if it will be split into multiple species requiring ours to get a new name. We only have one local sequence and should get more local collections to see how much genetic diversity there is in our area, to help answer that question.

unsequenced Hericium abietis © Steve Trudell, unsequenced Hericium americanum © Michael Beug, unsequenced Hericium aff coralloides © Michael Beug

Hericium erinaceus EU - The most famous species in the genus, the European Lion's Mane, has all of its spines in a single, tight ball. It can grow on hardwoods here in the PNW as well.

Amazingly, the ITS DNA is in the same narrow range as Hericium americanum and its European conifer lookalike species Hericium alpestre.