- Fruitbodies cauliflower-like, cream-coloured to yellow-brown.
- Branches dense, flattened and curly at the tips, arising from a root-like elongated base.
- Flesh with mild taste and fresh smell of resin or pine needle oil.
Miscellaneous fungi
Wood Cauliflower
Sparassis crispa
LC
Least concern
Edible
4 images
Characteristics
Ecology
Grows as a parasite on pine roots, often at the base of old and damaged pines, sometimes on or beside pine stumps.
Notes
One of our best edible mushrooms, excellent deep-fried. Suitable for all kinds of cooking, but less suitable for drying as the taste can become somewhat bitter. Sparassis crispa can be fairly difficult to clean, as needles and soil are often embedded in the branching structure.
Similar species
Inexperienced mushroom pickers may possibly confuse it with large coral fungi, but these usually have round and finger-like branches with rounded or pointed branch tips.
Broad-leaved cauliflower fungus Sparassis laminosa/brevipes has broader and flatter branches. It is a closely related species with a southern European distribution, reported to grow at the base of oak, but there are no confirmed records from the Nordic region.
Broad-leaved cauliflower fungus Sparassis laminosa/brevipes has broader and flatter branches. It is a closely related species with a southern European distribution, reported to grow at the base of oak, but there are no confirmed records from the Nordic region.