Lion's mane
Hericium erinaceus
A toothed white fungus on hardwood, cultivated on blocks. Looks like icicles, not gills. Supplement powders exist; the food is the cooked mushroom.
GROW → HARVEST → EAT → DRY → POWDER → CAPSULE → GUMMY — forms are not equivalent. Food first.
Identity
Also called: lion’s mane, bearded tooth
What it is
A toothed white fungus on hardwood, cultivated on blocks. Looks like icicles, not gills. Supplement powders exist; the food is the cooked mushroom.
Edible portions
- fruiting bodies
Absence of a portion from this list means it is not treated as food here — not that every other part is toxic.
Growing
- Climate. Cultivated; wild on hardwood wounds
- Light. Shade
- Soil. n/a — hardwood blocks
- Planting. Sawdust blocks.
- Harvest. Before the teeth brown.
Preparation and culinary uses
- Sear like a steak-ish mushroom; it shreds
Supplement relevance
AAA interpretation Capsules of Hericium are supplements. Dinner is food. Do not treat them as equivalent ‘nerve pills.’
If you are considering a bottle, use the food-first tools rather than a social-media urgency loop.
Next steps
Sources
- USDA PLANTS Database — taxonomy and range (verify current entries)
- No USDA FoodData Central nutrient profile is attached here. That is not a claim that the plant contains no nutrients.
- State cooperative extension growing guides — verify for your region
Honest incompleteness is preferred to fabricated completeness. If a section is missing, no record for it is attached here — not a claim that the plant lacks that characteristic, and not that it was omitted as a secret.
Internal quality class B. Good foundation: enough unique information to exist as its own destination.