Coral tooth  (Hericium coralloides)

Learn about the scientific name of this species and how it fits into the tree of life at Nature Navigator.

Biology

Fungi are neither plants nor animals but belong to their own kingdom. They are unable to produce their own food through the process of photosynthesis, as plants do; instead, they acquire nutrients from living or dead plants, animals, or other fungi, as animals do. In many larger fungi (lichens excepted) the only visible parts are the fruit bodies, which arise from a largely unseen network of threads called 'hyphae'. These hyphae permeate the fungus's food source, which may be soil, leaf litter, rotten wood, dung, and so on, depending on the species. (1). The coral tooth fungus has a relatively short lifespan because the logs on which it is found often rot after just a few years (2). Remarkably, considering its rarity, this fungus seems to be able to keep other species of fungi at bay and gain sole access to host logs (7).

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