Bearded Tooth vs coast amaranth

Hericium erinaceus compared with Amaranthus pumilus

Key Differences

Bearded Tooth is Critically Endangered while coast amaranth is Extinct.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Bearded Tooth	coast amaranth
Kingdom	Fungi (Fungi)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Russulales (Russulales)	Caryophyllales (Caryophyllales)
Family	Hericiaceae	Amaranthaceae
Genus	Hericium	Amaranthus
Species	Hericium erinaceus	Amaranthus pumilus

Conservation Status

Bearded Tooth

CR — Critically Endangered

coast amaranth

EX — Extinct

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Bearded Tooth	coast amaranth
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Bearded Tooth

Habitat

Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and temperate broadleaf and mixed forests spanning the Indomalayan and Palearctic realms.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (4 countries), and North America (United States). Currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

coast amaranth

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Found in Japan.

Bearded Tooth

The Bearded Tooth (Hericium erinaceus) is a species in the genus Hericium. It is currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and temperate broadleaf and mixed forests spanning the Indomalayan and Palearctic realms.

coast amaranth

Coast amaranth (Amaranthus pumilus) is an annual herb in the family Amaranthaceae, native to the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the eastern United States, where it once grew on coastal foredunes, beach strand, and shell-hash substrates above the high tide line from New York south to South Carolina. It is a low-growing, fleshy plant with small, rounded leaves and inconspicuous green flowers typical of the genus. Coast amaranth is assessed as Extinct in the Wild by the IUCN, as it has not been reliably documented from wild populations since the mid-20th century; the last confirmed collections date to the 1960s. The species' decline and likely extinction resulted from intense human pressure on Atlantic coastal habitats through shoreline development, beach stabilisation, vehicular traffic on beaches, and increased storm frequency disrupting pioneer dune vegetation. It is federally listed as Threatened in the United States, though this listing predates confirmed extinction in the wild. A small number of ex-situ accessions may exist in botanical garden collections. Genetic material and seed banking efforts represent the only remaining conservation options for this critically reduced species.