About Hydnellum cyanopodium K.A.Harrison
Fruit bodies of Hydnellum cyanopodium have irregularly shaped caps 4–8 cm (1.6–3.1 in) in diameter. The cap surface is rough with small hard points and ridges, and is dark blue-wine red when immature, fading to lavender as it ages. The outer edge of the cap becomes whitish with age. Young fruit bodies are covered in drops of red juice. The flesh is woody or cork-like in texture, and has a strong, disagreeable odor and taste. The spines growing on the underside of the caps can reach up to 3 mm in length; their color changes with age, starting as grayish violet blue, shifting to wine-blue with brownish tints, and finally becoming dull grayish-green. The stipe is 2–5 cm (0.8–2.0 in) long and 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in) thick, and typically grows rooted into the ground. The stipe is deep bluish-black, with matching bluish-black internal flesh, and has a whitish layer of mycelium at its base. When potassium hydroxide is applied to the spines, cap flesh, or stipe flesh, the stained tissue turns blue-green. Spores are angular, cross-shaped with four to six thick points, measure 4–5 by 3.5–4.5 μm, and their shape is often compared to jacks. This fungus fruits singly, in groups, or with fused fruit bodies. It grows under Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) and pine (Pinus spp.) in California, and is also found in Oregon.
