Lion's Mane

Hericium erinaceus

Edible

Also called bearded tooth, pom pom mushroom.

Lion's mane is a white, unbranched clump of long, hanging spines that grows on wounds of living hardwoods and on dead logs in late summer and fall. It is widely cultivated, and its lookalikes are its own close relatives.

A creamy white lion's mane with hanging spines growing on the side of a tree trunk

The tell

A single white, unbranched clump of long hanging spines on hardwood.

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
No true cap. The fruiting body is a single rounded, unbranched mass covered in long hanging spines, white, turning yellowish to brown with age.
Underside
Spines instead of gills: soft, crowded, 0.5 to 2 inches long (1 to 5 cm), all hanging from a single central mass.
Stem
None, or a short attachment point on the wood.
Flesh
White, soft and fibrous. Smell is mild.
Spore print
White.
Size
3 to 10 inches across (8 to 25 cm).

Where and when

Where and when it grows

Habitat
Hardwood forests, often high on trunks of living trees at wounds, or on recently fallen logs.
Grows on
Living or dead hardwoods, especially oak, beech and maple.
Season
Late summer to fall.
Range
Widespread in North America, including eastern hardwood forests and oak woods on the West Coast.

Lookalikes

What the lion's mane gets confused with

Each card says how to tell the two apart.

  1. Compare side by side

Edibility

What the field guides say

Edible

Field guides list lion's mane as a choice edible, and it is grown commercially. The other Hericium species it resembles are also listed as edible, and guides record no toxic species with the same hanging-spine form.

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 lion's mane

Is lion's mane mushroom edible?

Field guides list Hericium erinaceus as a choice edible when fresh and white. It is also grown commercially and sold in grocery stores and markets.

What does lion's mane look like?

A white, rounded clump of long, soft spines that hang down like icicles or a shaggy beard, growing from the side of a hardwood tree or log. It has no cap, gills or stem, and it yellows and browns with age.

Are there poisonous lookalikes of lion's mane?

Field guides record no toxic species that closely resembles it. Its lookalikes are other Hericium species, the bear's head tooth and the coral tooth, which are branched and are also listed as edible.

Sources

Where these facts come from

  1. Hericium erinaceus

    MushroomExpert.com

  2. Hericium erinaceus

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

  3. Bearded Tooth

    Missouri Department of Conservation

  4. Hericium erinaceus

    Index Fungorum

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