Bearded Tooth Hericium erinaceus

The Bearded Tooth (Hericium erinaceus), also known as Lion’s Mane, is one of Britain’s most spectacular fungi, its cascading curtain of long white spines emerging from wounds or cavities in veteran broadleaved trees – most often beech or oak. A priority species for woodland conservation, it is associated with ancient and veteran trees in old-growth woodland, wood-pasture, and parkland. Suffolk holds significant records, particularly from ancient parkland and estate woodlands with long-established veteran trees. Protecting the veteran trees it depends upon – and maintaining the ecological continuity of old-growth woodland habitats – is essential to its long-term survival in the county. Image: © shan, iNaturalist.

Find out more: iNaturalist, Woodland Trust, Fungi of Great Britain and Ireland