Blue-black Tooth
This small tooth fungus is typically found under coastal spruce trees though it is not restricted to spruce. It is a stipitate hydnoid species that forms an ectomycorrhizal connection with forest tree roots. It may occur singly but is perhaps more often found in small fused clusters as shown in the photo. The caps are up to 8 cm across. They may be flat but more often have a depressed center and typicallly become more wrinkled with age. The surface is dry, never viscid. The color is bluish to bluish black with a lighter bluish or purplish-tinged margin. The undersurface features very short and densely packed spines that are from 0.1-0.3 mm long. The color is bluish but may have lilac tones or become more gray with age. The stipes are black or dark gray and up to 6 cm long and 2 cm across. They taper downwards and possess a matted, dry surface. The flesh of the caps and stipe is fibrous and tough, blackish with a somewhat lighter gray color closer to the surface. The odor is mild, the taste indistinct. They are not considered edible. The most similar lookalike in the PNW is Phellodon melaleucus, also an ectomycorrhizal conifer species, which has pale teeth, a whiter margin, thinner flesh and a cap that is more gray-brown and lacking in bluish colors.