Photo by Alisa Mazur on iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0
MushroomIn season now (October)
Hedgehog mushroom
Hydnum repandum
- When
- Typically August – November — August, September, October, November. Earlier in warm, low country; later in the hills.
- Where it grows
- Broadleaf and conifer woods, singly, in groups or in rings, in moss and leaf litter.
- How to know it
- A buff, apricot or pale orange cap, often lumpy and irregular, with soft, crowded, pale spines hanging underneath instead of gills, and firm white flesh that bruises orange.
- Look-alikes
- From above it can pass for a chanterelle or any pale cap, so turn every one over: soft spines underneath, never gills or ridges. The smaller, deeper-orange terracotta hedgehog has the same spines and is eaten the same way.
- Harvest and use
- Brush the spines clean as you pick; sauté, simmer in stock or cream, or pickle. Nutty and crunchy. Boil older, bitter ones first.
- Caution
- Listed as vulnerable in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany — pick lightly there, if at all.
Hedgehog mushroom at a glance
- Also called
- Wood hedgehog, sweet tooth, pig’s trotter; pied-de-mouton (France), Semmelstoppelpilz (Germany), steccherino dorato (Italy)
- Family
- Hydnaceae
- Where it grows
- Broadly distributed in Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, in coniferous and deciduous woods — one of the commonest tooth fungi. Red-listed as vulnerable in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. North America has related hedgehog species.
- When to pick
- Summer to autumn; in Britain mainly from August to November.
- Parts used
- The whole mushroom, cooked. Older ones can be bitter — boiling first takes it away.
Questions people ask about hedgehog mushroom
How do you identify a hedgehog mushroom?
Turn it over. From above it looks like a pale chanterelle or a dozen other buff mushrooms; underneath it has soft, crowded, pale spines instead of gills or ridges, and its firm white flesh bruises orange. That spiny underside is why it is a classic first mushroom.
How do you clean hedgehog mushrooms?
Brush the cap and stem as you pick them, before soil works in between the spines. Older, gritty spines can be scraped off.
Why are my hedgehog mushrooms bitter?
Older specimens develop a bitter taste, and ones from under conifers can taste strong. Boil them briefly and discard the water before cooking.
Found in these regions
Is it ready near you?
Get this week's foraging guide for your area
Enter a town, postal code or ZIP and we'll tell you what's in season right there this week — from your local climate, this week's weather and your ecological region.
Also ready in October
NutOctober – NovemberSweet chestnut
Castanea sativa
A big tree with long, glossy leaves edged with sharp, regular teeth, and bark that twists in spiralling ridges on old trunks. The nuts come in twos and threes inside a husk covered in dense, needle-sharp spines; each is glossy brown, flat on one side, with a pointed tuft at the tip.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: John Powers · CC BY 4.0
BerryAugust – OctoberRowan berries
Sorbus aucuparia
A slim tree with smooth silvery-grey bark and feathery leaves of many toothed leaflets in pairs; big flat clusters of scarlet-orange berries, each about 1 cm (⅜ in) across with a tiny black five-pointed star at the tip.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Therese Phillips · CC BY 4.0
BerryAugust – OctoberSea buckthorn
Hippophae rhamnoides
A thorny shrub with narrow, silvery-grey, willow-like leaves and branches packed with bright orange berries 6–8 mm (¼ in) across, from late summer into winter. Only female bushes fruit.
How to know it & its look-alikes →
Checked against these sources ·
Seasons are typical for the middle of the range and move by weeks north and south, and up and down hills.
Educational information only. Never eat a wild plant or mushroom identified from a single photograph or description — confirm with a regional field guide or an experienced forager, and know the poisonous species in your area first.