The bleeding tooth fungus or Devil’s tooth (Hydnellum peckii) is a bizarre creature of the forest. It is a grey with blue and pink shades velvet mass that leaks a red liquid, as bleeding. As it grows, it stops leaking, it becomes an irregular, tooth or shell shaped mushroom with short, flat an eccentric stipe, the top surface losses its velvet at the time that turns to brown and it discovers long needles beneath. The pictures show the growth of the bleeding tooth fungus. When adult, the charm of the bleeding tooth is lost.
The bleeding tooth is a mycorrhizal fungus. It distributes along the northern hemisphere. It’s common in northwest America, though scarce in the district of Bages. It has been found in oaks forest in the area of Font Freda (Mura), in Natural Park of Sant Llorenç del Munt i l’Obac.
Fulfilling the doctrine of signatures that should’ve seen bleeding, the red liquid of the bleeding tooth fungus contains atromentin that works as a blood anticoagulant.
[photos Jordi Badia]