(Hydnum repandum, Dentinum repandum)
Hedgehog Mushroom
This fine edible is easy to spot on the forest floor due to its warm salmon, orangey, or pinkish orange coloration and robust size, which can be close to a pound in weight, though usually much less. The stalk is off-center, the cap rather irregular and convoluted. The undersurface is a forest of downward-hanging spines up to 4-5mm in length. It has a crunchy texture when cooked, a pleasing aroma and a nutty or even sweet flavor. It is usually sauteed but can be used just about any way you would prepare a chanterelle. It has a smaller cousin that co-occurs in the same mixed confer/hardwood forests that is just as tasty, the Hydnum umbilicatum with a central stipe, depressed central cap and similar coloration.