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Tooth fungi are a relatively small polyphyletic
Polyphyly

A polyphyletic group is one whose members' last common ancestor is not a member of the group.For example, the group consisting of warm-blooded animals is polyphyletic, because it contains both mammals and birds, but the most recent common ancestor of mammals and birds was cold-blooded....
 group of fungi whose mushroom
Mushroom

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, hence the word mushroom is most often applied to those fungi that have a stem , a cap , and gills on the unde...
 bears its spores on a hymenium
Hymenium

The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidium or ascus, which produce spores....
 - a layer of "mother cells
Cell (biology)

The cell is the structural and functional unit of all known Life organisms. It is the smallest unit of an organism that is classified as living, and is often called the building bricks of life....
" - Although many tooth fungi are hard and inedible, some are prized both for their flavor and their ease of identification, such as Hericium erinaceus
Hericium erinaceus

Hericium erinaceus is an edible mushroom in the tooth fungus group. It can be identified by its tendency to grow all the spines out from one group , long spines and its appearance on hardwoods....
, the "bearded tooth mushroom".






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Toothfungus
Tooth fungi are a relatively small polyphyletic
Polyphyly

A polyphyletic group is one whose members' last common ancestor is not a member of the group.For example, the group consisting of warm-blooded animals is polyphyletic, because it contains both mammals and birds, but the most recent common ancestor of mammals and birds was cold-blooded....
 group of fungi whose mushroom
Mushroom

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, hence the word mushroom is most often applied to those fungi that have a stem , a cap , and gills on the unde...
 bears its spores on a hymenium
Hymenium

The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidium or ascus, which produce spores....
 - a layer of "mother cells
Cell (biology)

The cell is the structural and functional unit of all known Life organisms. It is the smallest unit of an organism that is classified as living, and is often called the building bricks of life....
" - Although many tooth fungi are hard and inedible, some are prized both for their flavor and their ease of identification, such as Hericium erinaceus
Hericium erinaceus

Hericium erinaceus is an edible mushroom in the tooth fungus group. It can be identified by its tendency to grow all the spines out from one group , long spines and its appearance on hardwoods....
, the "bearded tooth mushroom". Others, such as Sarcodon imbricatus
Sarcodon imbricatus

Sarcodon imbricatus, commonly known as the shingled hedgehog or scaly hedgehog, is a species of tooth fungus in the order Thelephorales....
 are edible but bitter. Still other species, though not edible, find use in the production of natural dyes.

Despite their physical similiarites, molecular phylogeny
Molecular phylogeny

Molecular phylogenetics, also known as molecular systematics, is the use of the structure of molecules to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships....
 has divided the tooth fungi among several orders, including Cantharellales
Cantharellales

The order Cantharellales is a group of fungi that includes the chanterelles, the tooth fungi, and some club fungi. Their hymenium consists of thick Gill -like folds, spines, or in some cases an almost smooth surface....
 (including the hedgehog mushroom
Hedgehog mushroom

Hydnum repandum, commonly known as the Wood Hedgehog or Hedgehog mushroom, is an edible Basidiomycota mushroom of the family Hydnaceae....
), Russulales
Russulales

The Russulales is an order of the Agaricomycetes, .Russuloid agarics represent an independent evolutionary line of agarics, not directly related to the Agaricales....
 (including the bearded tooth mushroom), and Thelephorales
Thelephorales

The Thelephorales is an order of basidiomycete fungi. This group contains some of the tooth fungi, such as the genera Hydnellum and the edible but bitter toothed fungus Sarcodon imbricatus as well as several other species with varying characteristics, such as the blue chanterelle, Polyozellus multiplex....
. Another fungus - the toothed jelly fungus
Pseudohydnum gelatinosum

Pseudohydnum gelatinosum is an edible mushroom, which is common from Alaska to northern California. Although bland, it can be candied or marinated....
, Pseudohydnum gelatinosum - has "teeth" but is an even more distantly related, as one of the jelly fungi
Jelly fungi

The class Heterobasidiomycetes or jelly fungi is a paraphyletic group of several Fungi orders: Tremellales, Auriculariales, Dacrymycetales....
.

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