I ran into a bunch of these over in Tofino on October 23. Never seen anything like them before. ... Any help in indentification would be appreciated.
It looks like something in the genus Hydnellum, possibly H. caeruleum. Did it appear to be growing on the ground, or perhaps on rotten wood in the soil? These fungi produce spores on spinelike "teeth," unlike other groups such as gilled mushrooms or mushrooms with pores.
Thanks for your help. I was leaning to hydnellum, but could get no further. The mushrooms in question were growing in an open mossy area in an older second growth rain forest 400 yards from the ocean on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Lots of rain. Lots of wind. ... So lots of dead fall covered by moss. They could have been growing on dead rotting wood. (the stem does seem to be very narrow going into the ground) There were about 12 to 15 mushrooms growing randomly in a 20' x 20' area. They were all similar visually. Cap is 5", some smaller. The colors in the photo are accurate. The salmon color along the outer margin of the cap may give a clue. The clusters of spines growing upwards through the cap are interesting.
