Hen of the Woods

Grifola frondosa

Edible

Also called maitake, sheep's head, ram's head.

Hen of the woods is a large rosette of gray-brown, spoon-shaped caps that grows at the base of oaks in early fall. It has white pores underneath and returns to the same trees year after year. In grocery stores it is sold as maitake.

A large gray-brown hen of the woods, a rosette of many overlapping wavy caps, on the forest floor

The tell

Large gray-brown rosette of overlapping spoon-shaped caps at the base of an oak.

Field marks

What to look at

Cap, underside and stem show in a photo. The spore print does not, and it is often the deciding check.

Cap
Dozens to hundreds of overlapping, spoon- to fan-shaped caps arising from a branched base. Each cap is gray-brown to tan, finely streaked, with a wavy edge.
Underside
White to cream pore surface with tiny pores, running down onto the branching stem. No gills.
Stem
A thick, white, branched base that splits into many short stems, one for each cap.
Flesh
White, firm and fibrous. Smell is mild.
Spore print
White.
Size
Whole cluster 4 to 24 inches across (10 to 60 cm), sometimes larger; each cap 1 to 3 inches wide (2.5 to 8 cm).

Where and when

Where and when it grows

Habitat
Hardwood forests, parks and yards, at the base of oaks and on their buried roots, less often with other hardwoods.
Grows on
Roots and the base of living or dead oaks; it causes a white rot in the roots and lower trunk.
Season
Late summer to fall, usually September and October.
Range
Eastern North America east of the Great Plains; it is rare in the West.

Lookalikes

What the hen of the woods gets confused with

Each card says how to tell the two apart.

  1. Black-staining polypore (Meripilus sumstinei)

    Larger, broader caps in a looser rosette, and its white pore surface bruises black where damaged.

  2. Berkeley's polypore (Bondarzewia berkeleyi)

    Cream to pale tan caps that are much larger and thicker, with larger, angular pores and tough flesh.

  3. Compare side by side

Edibility

What the field guides say

Edible

Field guides list hen of the woods as a choice edible, and it is grown commercially as maitake. Its common lookalikes at the base of oaks are not recorded as seriously toxic. The base becomes woody in older specimens.

This page states what field guides record. It is not advice to eat, taste or handle anything, and a photo cannot settle edibility. If someone has eaten a wild mushroom that may be toxic, call poison control (1-800-222-1222 in the US) right away, before symptoms start: the deadliest species act hours later.

FAQ

Questions about the hen of the woods

Is hen of the woods the same as maitake?

Yes. Maitake is the Japanese name for Grifola frondosa, and the cultivated mushrooms sold as maitake are the same species as the wild hen of the woods.

Where does hen of the woods grow?

At the base of oak trees, living or dead, and on their buried roots, in eastern North America. It appears from late summer through fall, often at the same tree for several years in a row.

What looks like hen of the woods?

The black-staining polypore, which has larger caps and bruises black, and Berkeley's polypore, which is cream to tan and much tougher. The cauliflower mushroom and the white-pored chicken of the woods also form rosettes at the base of trees.

Sources

Where these facts come from

  1. Grifola frondosa

    MushroomExpert.com

  2. Grifola frondosa

    Fungi Growing on Wood, Gary Emberger (MushroomExpert.com)

  3. Hen of the Woods (Maitake)

    Missouri Department of Conservation

  4. Grifola frondosa

    Index Fungorum

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