Auriscalpium vulgare Gray
Family: Auriscalpiaceae
Ear Pick Fungus
Auriscalpium vulgare image
National Mushroom Centre  
Mata, M., D. Penjor and S. Pradham. 2010. Fungi of Bhutan. National Mushroom Centre, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Thimphu, Bhutan.

Local name: No local name known

Edibility: Inedible

Habitat: On rooting cones of conifers and humus and solitary to scattered.

Description: Cap: 1-3 cm diameter, kidney-shaped or almost circular in outline, in some cases convex to plane, surface hairy like dense fibrils when young to smooth with age, reddish-brown to dark-brown. Hymenophore: Spines 1-2 mm long, crowded, white at first, pinkish then brownish. Stem:  2-5 cm long and up to 3 mm wide, lateral, slender, surface tough, densely hairy, brownish-orange to dark brown. Flesh: Thin and white to pale brown. Spore Print: White.

Comments: The small size of A. vulgare makes it difficult to find in the field, however once observed, it is easy to identify because it mainly grows on decaying conifer cones, hairy textured, elongated lateral stem and hymenophore consists of crowded teeth. For most collectors it is cute mushroom in the pine forest.