Earpick Fungus

Auriscalpium vulgare

On fallen pine and spruce cones, in forests and parks. Spring, summer, autumn, winter (rarely).

Fruiting bodies tiny, small. Cap 0.5-1 (2.5) cm across, kidney-shaped, lateral, eccentric, semicircular, fan-shaped, dark brown, blackish-brown, shaggy with stiff brown bristles. Spines conical, up to 3 pm long, firm, brown, decurrent down the stem. Stem 1-5x0.1-0.2 cm, lateral, covered with brown hairs. Flesh tough, whitish, turning brown. Characteristic features: cap fan-shaped, brown and black bristly, stem hairy. Grows singly. Inedible. Very common. Saprotroph.