The name comes from the species' distinctive dark hairy bristles found on the cap - hydnoides meaning 'relating to Hydnum,' a genus of toothed fungi.

[2] Hexagonia hydnoides forms annual semicircular fruiting bodies, with a sessile, or stalkless, attachment to dead wood, such as that of a fallen oak.

It is a white-rot fungus, meaning that it secretes enzymes that can break down components of the wood including cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, the latter of which is not digestible by some wood-decay fungi.

In a phylogenetic study done in 2013 on various genera within the order Polyporales, it was shown that Hexagonia hydnoides is a sister lineage to Irpex lacteus and Emmia latemarginata.

Although Hexagonia hydnoides is considered inedible due to its tough, woody texture, therapeutic compounds within the basidiocarp can be extracted for use in traditional herbal medicines such as teas through being ground into a powder.

A study published in 2021 analyzed the common knowledge, usage, and effects of various fungi in traditional medicine in rural Northeastern Brazilian communities.

[12] The usage of H. hydnoides in traditional medicine is endangered by increased access to commercially produced medicines, loss of tradition throughout generations, and a decline in fungal species populations due to environmental factors such as deforestation, which is particularly relevant to Hexagonia hydnoides' use among populations in South America, especially regarding the gradual loss of Brazilian rainforests.