A cream-buff cap mushroom with soft tooth-like spines instead of gills, beloved by beginner foragers for its safety and flavour.
Where it grows
Hedgehog mushrooms fruit from late summer into early winter, often in small troops scattered through moss and leaf litter under both broadleaf and coniferous trees. They favour acidic, humus-rich soil and frequently reappear in the same locations.
How to recognise it
The cap is creamy, peach-tinted or buff, irregular and often dimpled, with an inrolled edge. The stem is short, paler, and offset to one side. The defining feature is the underside: instead of gills or pores, there is a forest of soft, brittle, cream-coloured spines that snap off easily when rubbed.
Edibility & cautions
A beginner-safe choice edible — the spines distinguish it cleanly from gilled or pored mushrooms. Old specimens turn bitter, so pick young firm caps. The closely related Hydnum rufescens is smaller and more orange but equally edible.
Culinary use
Trim the spines if dense, then slice and sauté in butter; holds its texture well in stews and stir-fries.
Find more mushrooms by letter
Hedgehog Mushroom starts with H and ends with M. Browse other mushrooms along the same letter.
Mushrooms that contain a letter from "Hedgehog Mushroom":