# Cauliflower Fungus

*Sparassis crispa*

Its highly folded, cauliflower-like structure greatly increases its surface area, allowing it to release millions of spores from a compact shape.

- **Taxonomy:** Fungi › Basidiomycota › Agaricomycetes › Polyporales › Sparassidaceae › Sparassis
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** forest
- **Habitat:** Coniferous forests, growing specifically at the base of pine, spruce, and larch trees, arising from buried roots or stumps.
- **Diet:** Saprophytic and parasitic; derives nutrients by causing brown rot in the heartwood of living conifers and decaying dead wood.
- **Range:** Europe, North America, East Asia
- **Size:** Fruiting bodies typically 10 to 40 cm in diameter, weighing up to several kilograms.
- **Lifespan:** Fruiting body lasts 2-4 weeks; the underground mycelium can live for decades.
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Over-harvesting by foragers, intensive forestry practices that remove old-growth host trees, and habitat fragmentation.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless to touch. If foraging, ensure positive identification as it has toxic look-alikes. Do not consume raw; wash thoroughly to remove dirt, pine needles, and insects hidden within its dense, brain-like folds.

## About

Sparassis crispa is a species of fungus in the genus Sparassis . In English it is sometimes called cauliflower fungus .

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/6ee2fe13-4bc4-4213-aa44-863429f9591e
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/63014
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparassis crispa
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/125172/medium.jpg (Katja Schulz, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.