Local name: No local name known

Edibility: Unknown

Habitat: Growing solitary, scattered or clustered together and terrestrial.

Description: Fruiting bodies: 4-10 cm, convex to flattened and sometimes slightly depressed in the centre. It is more or less uneven, somewhat round to irregular. Upper surface:  Usually has a dense covering of "hairs". It is initially whitish, but later turns slightly brownish with irregular blotches of dark-brown to nearly black colour where it is bruised. In maturity, the surface is fibrous and tough, greyish-brown in the central part, and somewhat woody. Hymenophore: Cylindrical and tapering teeth, less than 5 mm and pinkish-white initially and greyish-brown as it matures. They are crowded together, with 3-5 teeth/mm. Stem: Thick, very short, and often deformed. It becomes bulbous where it inserts into the ground, and may root into the ground for several centimetres. It is up to a cm wide, 2-3 cm tall above the ground. The upper part of the stem is covered with spines like the underside of the fruiting body; the lower part of the stem is hairy and often encases debris from the forest floor. Flesh: Pale pinkish-brown. Spore Print:  Brown.

Comments: The bright red droplets that cling to the surface of the cap in moist weather make this a striking and easily -identified mushroom. As in other Hydnellums, the cap varies considerably in colour and texture according to age and environmental conditions.