[3] The fungus was originally described as new to science in 1898 by American mycologist Charles Horton Peck, who placed it in the genus Hydnum.

[4] Zdeněk Pouzar transferred it to Hydnellum in 1960.

[5] Synonyms include Hydnellum nuttallii, published by Howard James Banker in 1906, and Hydnellum velutinum var.

spongiosipes, published by Rudolph Arnold Maas Geesteranus in 1957.

[6] Lookalikes include H. concrescens, H. ferrugineum, and H. scrobiculatum.