Bitter Tooth

– Cap smooth when young, pinkish-brown, becoming reddish-brown and cracking into scales with age.
– Spines decurrent, whitish when young, turning brownish with age.
– Stem concolorous with the cap, distinctly blue-gray to gray-green towards the narrowing stem base.
– Flesh grayish-white, becoming yellow-brown with age and blue-green at the stem base, with a farinaceous odor and a bitter to sharply acrid taste.

Grows with pine in pine forests and mixed coniferous forests throughout the country. Common on sandy pine heaths in northern parts of the Nordic region.

Part of a species complex formerly known as Sarcodon glaucopus s.lat. Inedible but good indicator species of conservation value in old-growth coniferous forests.