Strawberries and Cream (Hydnellum peckii)

Oil and acrylic on canvas
30"x30"
April 2017
$500

Stawberries and Cream, also known as Devil's Tooth or Bleeding Tooth, is the colloquial name for the fungus Hydnellum peckii. This mushroom grows in forests at the roots of conifer trees, with whom they have a mutualistic relationship. When young, they take up moisture from the earth, which pushes out red liquid. While nonedible due to bitterness, their oozing liquid is used as a dye and has anticoagulant properties.
Hydnellum peckii grows in North America, especially the Pacific Northwest, but has also been found in North Korea.