Habitat: Auriscalpium vulgare is found primarily on (often buried) Douglas-fir cones in the PNW. Elsewhere it can often be found on the cones of pine or occasionally spruce.
Substrate: Fallen or buried cones
Conservation Status: Not of concern
ear-pick fungus, ear-spoon fungus, pinecone mushroom, pinecone tooth
Spores are white. Fruitbody growth of up to 1 inch and a cap diameter of 1 inch. Species with similar looking fruitbodies will reveal gills rather than spines underneath the cap.
Sources: Trudell, Steve and Joe Ammirati. Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest. Portland, Timber Press, Inc. 2009. Roberts, Peter and Evans, Shelley. The Book of Fungi. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 2011.
PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Auriscalpium vulgare in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database
CalPhotos: Auriscalpium vulgare photos