The fungus fruits on the ground singly or in clusters in conifer forest, usually in poor (low nutrient) or sandy soil.

Mature fruit bodies become dark reddish brown in color, and are then difficult to distinguish from other similar Hydnellum species.

Its taxonomic history includes transfers to the genera Calodon by Petter Karsten in 1881, and Phaeodon by Joseph Schröter in 1888.

[12] Harrison noted "The attempts to recognize European species in North American collections has only increased the confusion in this country, and until someone has worked critically in the field on both continents, it is better to make a recognizable grouping of our own population as that to guess that they may be the same as those that grow in Europe.

[8] Banker explained the difficulty in identifying old Hydnellum specimens: "A considerable number of collections have had to be set aside, as in the dried state, with no notes on the fresh characters, it was impossible to decide with any degree of satisfaction whether the plants represented H. sanguinarium, H. concrescens, H. scrobiculatum, or some undescribed form.

The cap surface of young fruit bodies is uneven, with a velvety to felted texture, and a whitish to pink color.

[19] The fungus employs an indeterminate growth pattern, in which the fruit body formation begins from a vertical column of hyphae that eventually expand at the top to form the cap.

[9] Hydnellum spongiosipes is readily confused with H. ferrugineum, and several authors have historically considered the two species to be the same; molecular studies, however, indicate that the two fungi are closely related, but distinct.

Fruit bodies have a preference for sandy soil with low levels of organic matter and nutrients,[9] and grow singly or in clusters.

These areas generally lack dwarf shrubs and promote the vigorous growth of mosses; reindeer lichens often occur in the center of large mats.

[26] Similar to some other Hydnellum species, H. ferrugineum is sensitive to the increased nitrogen deposition resulting from clear-cutting, a forestry practice used in some areas of Europe.

[28] Hydnellum ferrugineum fruit bodies contain the pigments hydnuferrigin (dark violet) and hydnuferruginin (yellow), as well as small amounts of the polyphenol compound atromentin.

Hydnuferrigin has a chemical structure that closely resembles that of thelephoric acid, a pigment found in other species of Hydnellum and Hydnum, and they may originate from a common precursor compound.