Key to species of Hydnellum from China
1. Basidiocarps fleshy	2
1.→ Basidiocarps woody	4
2. Pileal surface not scaled	H. coactum
2.→ Pileal surface scaled	3
3. Pileal surface with ascend squama	H. grosselepidotum
3.→ Pileal surface with appressed squama	H. lidongensis
4. Context tissue olivaceous in KOH	5
4.→ Context tissue blue-green in KOH	H. peckii
5. Hyphae with clamp-connections in the context	6
5.→ Hyphae without clamp-connections in the context and spines	8
6. Basidiocarps with dark violet spines underneath pileus	H. atrospinosum
6.→ Basidiocarps with different colored spines underneath pileus	7
7. Pileal surface fibrillose, rugose when dry, spines up to 1.5 mm long	H. fibulatum
7.→ Pileal surface pitted, colliculose when dry, spines up to 6 mm long	H. caeruleum
8. Inflated hyphae present from the context	9
8.→ Inflated hyphae absent in the context	10
9. Generative hyphae mostly inflated in the context, pileal surface scrobiculate when dry	H. inflatum
9.→ Generative hyphae occasionally inflated in the context, pileal surface granulose when dry	H. granulosum
10. Stipe thin, rhizomorphs-like	Hydnellum sp 1
10.→ Stipe cylindrical to flattened	11
11. Pileal surface colored brownish orange to brownish red	H. brunneorubrum
11.→ Pileal surface differently colored	12
12. Pileal margin involute and wavy, sometimes lobed or rimose	13
12.→ Pileal margin even or effused, sometimes lobed or eroded	14
13. Pileal surface glabrescent	Hydnellum sp 4
13.→ Pileal surface not glabrescent	15
14. Pileal surface azonate and spongy	16
14.→ Pileal surface obsurely concentrically zonate to zonate and not spongy	17
15. Pileal surface floccose to squamulose when fresh, context corky	H. squamulosum
15.→ Pileal surface tomentose and scrupose when fresh, context woody	H. bomiense
16. Basidiocarps single to gregarious and stipe single and long	H. spongiosipes
16.→ Basidiocarps coalescent and stipe connate and short	Hydnellum sp 2
17. Stipe context with a dark line at centre	18
17.→ Stipe context without a dark line at centre	19
18. Pileus and spines grayish red	H. yunnanense
18.→ Pileus brown and spines reddish brown	Hydnellum sp 3
19. Spines up to 3 or 3.5 mm long	20
19.→ Spines up to 1 or 1.5 mm long	21
20. Pileus light brown to dark ruby	H. atrorubrum
20.→ Pileus reddish brown	H. rubidofuscum
21. Basidiocarps gregarious or multiple pilei overlapping and pileal surface often grooved, scabrous to fibrous	H. sulcatum
21.→ Basidiocarps solitary and pileal surface velutinous and strigose	Hydnellum sp 5