Climacodon sanguineus

The fungus was originally described as Hydnum sanguineum by Belgian mycologist Maurice Beeli in 1926. The holotype collection was made near Kalo, Democratic Republic of the Congo ^[2] Rudolph Arnold Maas Geesteranus transferred the species to genus Climacodon in 1971.^[3]

Phylogenetic data shows that C. sanguineus forms a well-supported clade with the type species of Climacodon, C. septentrionale, which nests in the Phlebioid clade.^[1]

The bright red, funnel-shaped fruit bodies of this fungus are up to 4 cm (1.6 in) tall. They have sharp, cylindrical spines on the underside of the cap. C. sanguineus has a monomitic hyphal system, containing only generative hyphae. These hyphae have a septum; some of the hyphae comprising the cap and in the core of the spines have clamps. The cystidia, which are scattered on the surface on the spines (the spore-bearing surface), are double-walled with a discontinuous internal lumen. The spores are ellipsoid in shape, translucent, and measure 4–5 by 2–2.5 μm.^[1]