Choice
Hen of the woods, maitake
Grifola frondosa
The character that does the work
A large rosette of grey fronds with white pores at the base of an oak. Remember the tree: it will fruit again.
The specimen sheet, in examination order
01Cap
A rosette 20 to 60 cm across, made of dozens of overlapping grey-brown fan-shaped fronds on a branched white base.
02Underside
Fine white pores running down the branches.
03Stem, and the base
A repeatedly branched white core.
04Flesh, cut
White, firm, fibrous.
05Spore print
White to cream
How to take one06Where it grows
At the base of oaks, on the roots or the stump, often returning to the same tree for many years.
When to look
Typically Sep to Nov in the northern hemisphere. Fruiting swings by weeks with rainfall and by a month or more with latitude, so this is when to look rather than when it will be there.
Eastern North America, Europe and Japan.
What is worth knowing about it
One of the great finds. A single specimen can weigh several kilograms, and the near look-alikes are edible or merely tough rather than dangerous, which makes this a comparatively low-risk mushroom to learn. It is also widely cultivated, so it can be bought and cooked to learn the flavour before ever finding one.
Confused with
- Black-staining polypore
- Umbrella polypore
In the kitchen
Tear along the fronds rather than chopping across them. Roast hard at high heat until the edges crisp: it is one of very few mushrooms that genuinely improves in a hot oven rather than a pan.
The techniques, and why they workSold as a supplement
Like shiitake, this is best treated as excellent food rather than as medicine. The evidence for the supplement is thin; the argument for roasting it is overwhelming.
The claims, graded by what the evidence actually isThis page tells you what to check. It does not tell you the mushroom in your hand is that species, and it cannot. If you are not certain, do not eat it. If you have already eaten something and feel unwell, contact a poison centre and keep an uncooked specimen.
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