Sparassis crispa    Wulfen:Fr. 

common name(s) : Wood Cauliflower, Cauliflower Fungus 

New classification: Basidiomycota/Agaricomycotina/Agaricomycetes/Incertae sedis/Polyporales/Sparassidaceae  
Former classification: Basidiomycota/Homobasidiomycetes/Agaricomycetideae/Polyporales/Sparassidaceae  
(unconfirmed synonyms: Clavaria crispa, Helvella ramosa)  

edibility : edible, good

photo gallery of  Sparassis crispa
photo gallery of  Sparassis crispa potential confusions with  Sparassis crispa toxicity of Sparassis crispa genus Sparassis  

The fruiting body is a round mass of crisped and flattened wavy lobes, cauliflower-like, flesh pink to red-brown, without stem, but with a short, thick and rooting trunk.

The flesh is white, slightly elastic; its taste is pleasant, nutty; the odour is pleasant, of cinnamon, sweetish, or of resin.

The fertile surface is smooth. The spore print is white to creamy yellow.

It grows on wood, in coniferous woods, on stumps and also parasiting roots, favouring pines.

The fruiting period takes place from July to December.
Dimensions: width of fruiting body approximately 27 cm (between 10 and 60 cm)
  total height approximately 13 cm (between 10 and 15 cm)
  width of stem approximately 90 mm (between 80 and 100 mm)

Distinctive features : cauliflower-like, a round mass of dense, crisped and flattened wavy lobes, white then pink-brown, emerging from a thick central stem; pleasant smell; on roots or stumps of conifers (favouring pines)

Sparassis crispa is quite rare and scattered in the forest of Rambouillet, and is occasional, more generally speaking .
here should be the distribution map of Sparassis crispa in the forest of Rambouillet
Above : distribution map of Sparassis crispa in the forest of Rambouillet



page updated on 14/01/18