{{Short description|Species of fungus}} {{Speciesbox | image = Phellodon melaleucus 264419.jpg | image_caption = | genus = Phellodon | species = melaleucus | authority = (Sw. ex Fr.) P.Karst. (1881) | synonyms_ref = <ref name="urlFungorum: Phellodon melaleucus"/> | synonyms = *''Hydnum melaleucum'' <small>Sw. ex Fr. (1815)</small> *''Hydnellum melaleucum'' <small>(Sw. ex Fr.) P.Karst. (1879)</small> }}
'''''Phellodon melaleucus''''', commonly known as the '''grey tooth''',<ref name="BMS"/> is a species of tooth fungus in the family Bankeraceae. It was originally described by Elias Magnus Fries in 1815 as a species of ''Hydnum''.<ref name="Fries 1815"/> In 1881, Petter Karsten included it as one of the original three species in his newly circumscribed genus ''Phellodon''.<ref name="Karsten 1881"/> The fungus is widely distributed in Europe and North America, where it associates mycorrhizally with a wide range of host trees. It is considered vulnerable in Switzerland.<ref name="Senn-Irlet 2007"/>
==Description== The grey tooth is a small to medium-sized fungus with a leathery or corky fruiting body. On the underside it has pale grayish-brown spines from which spores are released rather than from gills. It may look like a convoluted single fruiting body but in fact each part has a blackish stem, and several caps can fuse together. The cap tends to be concentrically zoned with a reddish-brown to blackish-brown centre and a pale edge. The flesh is greyish-brown, darker near the base of the stem, and smells of fenugreek.<ref name=NIPriority>{{cite web |url=http://www.habitas.org.uk/priority/species.asp?item=21218 |title=''Phellodon melaleucus'' – grey tooth |author=Allen & Mellon Environmental Ltd.|work=Northern Ireland Priority Species |access-date=7 March 2020}}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== This species occurs in various parts of Europe and has been recorded in North America.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.first-nature.com/fungi/phellodon-melaleucus.php |title=''Phellodon melaleucus'' (Sw. ex Fr.) P. Karst. - Grey Tooth |publisher=First Nature |access-date=7 March 2020}}</ref> It is uncommon in the United Kingdom and very rare in Ireland. This is an ectomycorrhizal species that forms a symbiotic relationship with the roots of various plants, usually trees; the hyphae of the fungus wrap round the rootlets of the host tree, and there is an exchange of nutrients between the two.<ref>{{cite book |title="Mycorrhizae." Encyclopedia of Microbiology |last=Dighton |first=J. |year=2009 |pages=153–162 }}</ref> It is typically found growing on the ground on mossy banks in the vicinity of its hosts. In the British Isles it is associated with various trees including oak, beech, sweet chestnut, birch, Scots pine and spruce.<ref name=NIPriority/>
==References== {{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="BMS">{{cite web |url=http://www.fungi4schools.org/Reprints/ENGLISH_NAMES.pdf |title=Recommended English Names for Fungi in the UK |publisher=British Mycological Society |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716083053/http://www.fungi4schools.org/Reprints/ENGLISH_NAMES.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-16 }}</ref>
<ref name="Fries 1815">{{cite book |author=Fries EM. |title=Observationes mycologicae |year=1815 |publisher=Gerhard Bonnier |location=Copenhagen |volume=1 |page=134 |language=la |url=http://www.cybertruffle.org.uk/cyberliber/01532/0134.htm}}</ref>
<ref name="Karsten 1881">{{cite journal |author=Karsten PA. |title=Enumeratio Hydnearum Fr. Fennicarum, systemate novo dispositarum |journal=Revue mycologique, Toulouse |year=1881 |volume=3 |issue=9 |page=19 |language=la |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/11599314}}</ref>
<ref name="Senn-Irlet 2007">{{cite report |vauthors=Senn-Irlet B, Bieri G, Egli S |title=Lista Rossa Macromiceti. Lista Rossa delle specie minacciate in Svizzera. UV-0718-I |year=2007 |location=Bern |publisher=Ufficio federale dell’ambiente |language=it |url=http://www.bafu.admin.ch/publikationen/publikation/00055/index.html?lang=fr&lang=it}}</ref>
<ref name="urlFungorum: Phellodon melaleucus">{{cite web |title=GSD Species Synonymy: ''Phellodon melaleucus'' (Sw. ex Fr.) P. Karst. |url=http://www.speciesfungorum.org/GSD/GSDspecies.asp?RecordID=414466 |publisher=Species Fungorum. CAB International |access-date=2015-09-18}}</ref>
}}
==External links== *{{IndexFungorum|414466}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q10626909}}
Category:Fungi described in 1815 Category:Fungi of Europe Category:Fungi of North America Category:Inedible fungi melaleucus Category:Fungus species