Auriscalpium

Auriscalpium is a genus of mushrooms typifying the family Auriscalpiaceae and characterized by in part by rough-walled, amyloid spores that are produced on pendant spines, hence it is considered to be a tooth fungus. The type species, A. vulgare, is a common, easily identified fungus in the Northern Hemisphere found fruiting exclusively on mature, fallen, often buried conifer cones. Its wiry, long hairy stipe is topped by an eccentrically placed, shaggy pileus bearing the pendant, flexible, spore-bearing spines. The entire fructification resembles and perhaps could be used as an ear pick (see etymology below). Other species in the genus do not occur on cones or lack the eccentric pileus on a long stalk. According to the Dictionary of the Fungi (10th edition, 2008), the genus contains eight widely distributed species.