[5] The fungus's spores measure between 5-7 μm long and 2-3 μm tall and are strongly amyloid (turn blue-black under Melzer's reagent).As a polypore, Echinodontium ballouii is perennial, releasing spores once a year and forming a new layered hymenium directly on top of that of last year.

[5] Echinodontium ballouii is a hemi-biotrophic wood decomposer, feeding off of only a single species of tree: the Chamaecyparis thyoides Atlantic white cedar.

The fungus forms complex mycelial networks inside the tree's trunk, slowly digesting cellulose and lignin, and emerging as fruiting bodies in order to reproduce.

[6] Because this fungus only inhabits Chamaecyparis thyoides, its habitat is limited to this tree's ecological environment: swampy, coniferous forests within 150 miles of the Eastern coast of the United States.

[2][7] The production of fruiting bodies can take up to forty years, which means that the fungus is typically found on old growth trees.

Only about twenty visibly occupied trees have been documented to date, each in the East coast of the United States, with the first sighted in New Jersey.