Hydnum project

The Challenge:

The Hydnum Project was initiated because there’s something in it for everyone. With those teeth, neophytes can rest assured they’ve found a Hydnum – and bonus, it’s a renowned edible! More experienced individuals will have realized the need for: 1) research to determine what species we have in the province; and 2) the development of a local Hydnum key to help us reliably tease the species apart. The Foray NL Hydnum Project hopes to address both these gaps.

According to collections in the Foray NL herbarium, we have eight Hydnum species (H. albidum; H. repandum var. album; H. repandum; H. albomagnum; H. neorepandum: H. quebecense; H. rufescens; and H. umbilicatum. When Andrus Voitk sequenced his personal Hydnum collections, he found six more: H. neorepandum; H. subolympicum; H. subrufescens; H. submulsicolor; H. canadense; and H. mulsicolor. Long gone are the days when a Hydnum was either a repandum or umbilicatum! Uploading your photos, descriptions, and microscopic data (if you’re lucky enough to have a microscope) to the Foray NL Hydnum Project on iNaturalist, will greatly assist us in determining what Hydnum species we have in Newfoundland and Labrador, and how to reliably identify them.

How to Join:

• Via the iNaturalist app: search for the project: Foray NL Hydnum project. Click Join.

• Via iNaturalist on the web: https://inaturalist.ca/projects/foray-nl-hydnum-project

Photo Documentation

Start by taking a step back and photographing the Hydnum in its surrounding environment. Then photo document the cap, stipe, and teeth. Yes, we’re very interested in those teeth and how they connect to the stipe! Take all the time you need in order to get clear, crisp images because that’s what the iNaturalist experts need for identification. For additional tips on how to photograph specimens, please watch the video tutorial “How to Take Better Photos for iNaturalist” https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/video+tutorials - idable

Specimen Description

The description of the specimen is as important as the photograph. Record where you found the specimen, what it was growing in, and what types of trees and plant growth were nearby. Please provide a detailed description of the Hydnum’s cap (colour and texture), stipe, and teeth – their relative size, colour, and attachment, (slightly decurrent/not decurrent). Measure the cap and stipe. Tell us how the specimen smelled and tasted (optional). Finally, if you have a microscope, please record the spore size and number of sterigmata on basidia. For additional tips on how to document and submit an observation to the Foray NL Hydnum Project, please see iNaturalist’s video tutorial on “Adding an Observation on a Mobile Device or via the Web"

https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/video+tutorials