Lion's mane

Hericium erinaceus

Hericiaceae

The pom-pom fungus eaten as crab-like food and taken for focus and nerve support.

Culinary mushroom. Cultivation is legal.

Parts used: Fruiting body
Traditional notes: Mental fog · Recovery after nerve strain · Stomach mucosa (traditional Chinese use) · Food for the weak digestion
Grow · USDA 6b: Temperate hardwood saprophyte Ready-made fruiting blocks are the reliable start. Logs with plug spawn work more slowly. In work: Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec
Harvest: When spines are long and still white, before they yellow and drip.

A ready block on a shaded shelf is the reliable path.
Harvest while the teeth are white, before they yellow and drip.
Fresh air at fruiting. Stale humid boxes make coral blobs.

Safety

Known mushroom allergy

Lore

The pom-pom on the oak. Japanese cooks knew it as yamabushitake, named for the shaggy mountain monks. Modern nootropic marketing found it later. The seafood taste when seared is not a metaphor.

The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.