Hydnellum peckii is an inedible fungus, and a member of the genus Hydnellum of the Bankeraceae family. It is a hydnoid species, producing spores on the surface of vertical spines or tooth-like projections that hang from the undersurface of the fruit bodies. It is found in North America, Europe, and was recently discovered in Iran (2008) and Korea (2010). Hydnellum peckii is a mycorrhizal species, and forms mutually beneficial relationships with a variety of coniferous trees, growing on the ground singly, scattered, or in fused masses. The fruit bodies typically have a funnel-shaped cap with a white edge, although the shape can be highly variable. Young, moist fruit bodies can "bleed" a bright red juice that contains a pigment known to have anticoagulant properties similar to heparin. The unusual appearance of the young fruit bodies has earned the species several descriptive common names, including the bleeding tooth fungus and Devil's tooth. Although the fruit bodies are readily identifiable when young, they become brown and nondescript when they age.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydnellum_peckii

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1620:

William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims landed on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in modern-day Massachusetts, US, establishing the Plymouth Colony. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Colony

1872:

HMS Challenger, commanded by Captain George Nares, sailed from Portsmouth, England, on a scientific expedition that eventually made many discoveries that laid the foundation of oceanography. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenger_expedition

1883:

The Royal Canadian Regiment and The Royal Canadian Dragoons, the oldest regular regiments of the Canadian Army, were both formed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Royal_Canadian_Regiment

1970:

United States President Richard Nixon met singer Elvis Presley in the White House, wherein Presley expressed his patriotism and his contempt for the hippie drug culture. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon

1988:

A total of 270 people were killed when a bomb on board Pan Am Flight 103 exploded while the plane was in flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, launching an eventual three-year joint investigation by Britain's Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investigation_into_the_bombing_of_Pan_Am_Flight_103

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

frowst (v): To enjoy a warm, stuffy room http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/frowst

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

All of us encounter, at least once in our life, some individual who utters words that make us think forever. There are men whose phrases are oracles; who condense in one sentence the secrets of life; who blurt out an aphorism that forms a character or illustrates an existence. --Benjamin Disraeli http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Disraeli