Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus)

This species is a favorite here at Everything Mushrooms. It has just about everything one could ask for in a gourmet mushroom: it is visually striking, delicious, healthy, is easy to grow using our kits, and is very fast to produce! Time lapse video here!

Here in Tennessee the wild this species is often found growing from dead spots on high on live Maple trees. It is for this reason that when plugging logs with our Lion’s Mane Plug Spawn, one should use the freshest logs of lighter hardwoods such as Maple and Poplar to ensure the best output. Fresh cut living logs are ideal, though whatever you use should be no older than one season.

In cultivation, Lion’s Mane fruit prolifically from five pound bags of sterilized sawdust supplemented up to 20% with bran. One can purchase a 5 lb bag of sawdust spawn used to inoculate either wood chips, pasteurized straw and other agricultural bi-products.

When cooked in butter, Lion’s Mane takes on a flavor and texture somewhat akin to lobster. They are also great dried, ground and added to all sorts of recipes, from soups and stews to breads and savory pastries.

What Lion’s Mane is probably most known for are its medicinal properties. It is rare that something can be both delicious and safe to eat, while at the same time possessing well-studied medicinal action. In this case the compounds in question are Erinacines, which are complex kappa-opioid receptor agonists that have been shown to be potent neuro-protectors with the potential to treat everything from memory recall in alzheimer’s patients, to neuropathic pain, to addiction and depression. The safety profile of these compounds is incredible, and there are no known negative side-effects.

Hericium is a truly unique and wonderful mushroom that is as much a conversation piece as it is a culinary delight and nutritional powerhouse. You will love it!