Lion’s Mane is a mouth-watering edible mushroom that has quickly been popularized for its ability to improve brain functioning. Emerging research is suggesting that Lion’s Mane can improve your mood, enhance your memory, and even protect you from Alzheimer’s and dementia. Who doesn’t want that? Not to mention traditional uses dating back centuries suggest it can be greatly beneficial for digestive health.
It’s also delicious. It provides a unique culinary experience, with unexplored flavors and textures often compared to lobster. While there may be merit in the comparison, the truth is Lion’s Mane is completely unique to the tastebuds. This also makes it an exciting ingredient for any home cook, no matter the expertise. This is why long before Lion’s Mane was praised as a medicinal mushroom, it was praised by foragers and gourmet chefs!
Natural history and ecology of Lion’s Mane mushroom
Lion’s Mane mushroom (Hericium erinaceus) is a wood-rotting mushroom that is native to forests in temperate climates across the world. Lion’s Mane is classified as a “decomposer” because it obtains its energy and nutrients by decomposing woody materials. Ecologically this plays an important role in the nutrient cycling process where “locked up” nutrients in the wood become bioavailable to plants and other organisms.
Lion’s Mane is also cultivated commercially with similar methods used for Oyster mushrooms and Enoki. Unlike Oyster Mushrooms, Lion’s Mane is a bit pickier about its substrate and will not grow on straw or other agricultural byproducts. Most cultivators today grow Lion’s Mane on supplemented hardwood sawdust.
In the wild, Lion’s Mane grows directly from mature trunks or large branches of various hardwood trees. This includes Oak, Beech, Maple, and Sycamore just to name a few. While fallen branches and trunks are the most common habitats, Lion’s Mane can also grow directly from perfectly healthy trees. In the latter case, the fungal mycelium is only decomposing the internal dead tissues of the trunks while leaving healthy tissues intact.
What does Lion’s Mane look like?
Lion’s Mane does not have a stem, cap, or any of the features you usually associate with a mushroom. It is a beautifully unique mushroom that is often best described by its less popular common name “the pom-pom mushroom”.
It’s a white and spherical mushroom with thousands of white icicle-like teeth 1-2” in length. These hang freely from the body like small white tassels. In young specimens, these teeth are undeveloped giving the mushroom a smoother, spherical surface. As they age the teeth extend to 1-2” or more in length. At this point, Lion’s Mane is at its peak for harvesting! After this, it may begin gaining a yellow appearance, begin to acquire a bitter taste, or become oversaturated/soggy from excessive rain.
Distribution Of Lion’s Mane Mushrooms
Lion’s Mane is naturally distributed in temperate forests across the world. While it’s most known from countries in the northern hemisphere, it has also been reported in South America and Australia.
In the United States, its greatest distribution occurs in the western states (CA, OR, WA, AL) and forested regions east of the great plains. While Lion’s Mane is largely absent from arid or desert-like climates, it does occur to some extent in the mountainous sky islands of these regions.
When can you forage for Lion’s Mane mushroom?
Lion’s Mane is most commonly found in the fall mushroom season but can be found almost any time of the year when conditions are right. Their fruiting is typically triggered during periods of rainfall and moisture that arrives after a period of dryness.
Throughout most of its range, Lion’s Mane is often the most prolific in late September and October. In the Rocky Mountains and Southwestern Sky Islands, Lion’s Mane is commonly found during the summer months of July and August.
Taxonomy of Lion’s Mane mushrooms
Lion’s Mane is in the genus Hericium which currently contains around 12 species. It is in the family Hericiaceae in the order Russulales. Believe it or not, it is a distant relative of the ectomycorrhizal mushrooms in the genus Russula which form relatively normal “stem and cap” mushrooms.
Close relatives of Lion’s Mane
While Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus) is the most famous mushroom of its kind, it has many lesser-known close relatives. These species look similar, taste similar, and share ecological niches. Even experienced mushroom foragers find it challenging to distinguish between some of these species. While most studies regarding medicinal properties have been restricted to the true Lion’s Mane mushroom (Hericium erinaceus) it is thought that these relatives likely have similar active compounds.
Currently, there are about a dozen species known to science in the genus Hericium. Most of these are briefly discussed below.
| Scientific Name | Common Name | Description |
| Hericium americanum | Bear’s Head Tooth | This is a species unique to North America reported from the West Coast and east of the Great Plains. |
| Hericium coralloides | Coral Tooth Fungus | Cosmopolitan distribution and recognized for its heavily branched structure when compared to other species. |
| Hericium abietis | Bear’s Head | This species is only known from mountainous regions of the western United States. It grows with true Fir (Abies) and is the only Hericium species that specialize to grow on conifers. |
| Hericium cirrhatum | Tiered Tooth Fungus | This is a European species with a unique appearance. It’s shape is more “bracket-like” instead of the spherical shape common in other Hericium. May occur in North America. |
| Hericium flagellum | Fir Coral | Previously known as Hericium alpestre. This is a European species primarily known from eastern Europe. It has a similar structure as Hericium corraloides. |
| Hericium clathroides | Spine Face | Rare and only known from Europe. Similar branching structure as H. corraloides. |
| Hericium bharengense | A species described in 2011 from subtropical to temperate forests in the West district of Sikkim, India. | |
| Hericium botryoides | Species described from Japan. | |
| Hericium novae-zealandiae | Pekepeke-Kiore | Endemic to New Zealand recognized by its unique pink hue. |
| Hericium rajchenbergii | Extremely rare and endangered species from the mountains of Argentina. Grows exclusively on trunks of Lithraea molleoides. | |
| Hericium yumthangense | Rare species from India that was described in a Rhododendron reserve in 2013. | |
| Hericium bembedjaense | One of the most recently discovered (2019) species in the genus, from the tropical rain forests of Cameroon. |
Tips for foraging Lion’s Mane mushroom
- Foraging for Lion’s Mane is a bit different than soil-dwelling mushrooms. You’re not so much scanning the ground but instead within rather large woody debris.
- The most common hosts include Oak, Beech, Maple, Sycamore, Walnut, and other hardwoods.
- Being able to identify host trees by their bark and wood color can be particularly important since the wood may have been on the forest floor for years.
- Don’t forget to scan the branches and trunks of living host species!
- Lion’s Mane will usually fruit near the beginning of the rainy season after 3-4 weeks of good rain. It may not be worth searching for Lion’s Mane if you haven’t had any significant rainfall.
Medicinal uses of Lion’s Mane
Lion’s Mane mushrooms are a unique natural medicine that can help treat and prevent a variety of illnesses. What makes it truly stand out from other medicinal mushrooms/herbs is the way it interacts with your nervous system and enhances brain function. While this is an attractive and potent effect that Lion’s Mane has on our bodies, its health benefits don’t stop there.
While Lion’s Mane is a great supplement to incorporate into a daily health routine, it is most effective when combined with healthy lifestyle choices. This includes a healthy diet, exercise, and avoiding unhealthy habits.
How does Lion’s Mane interact with the body?
Lion’s Mane mushrooms contain many different unique compounds that positively influence your health. Below we outline the most important and researched of these compounds.
Hericenones and Erinacines
The most famous compounds found within Lion’s Mane are called hericenones and erinacines respectively. These compounds unique to Lion’s Mane mushrooms have been shown to stimulate the production of the Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) (Kawagishi, 2009). This is a compound important in many bodily functions but particularly for the process of neurogenesis.
Furthermore, these compounds help with the regeneration of an important component of your nervous system called the myelin sheath (Cheng, 2016). This is a substance that wraps around the axons (space between your neurons) in your nerves and allows for more efficient neurotransmission. When the myelin sheath is degraded it becomes filled with a material known as amyloid plaque which interferes with neurotransmission. High quantities of amyloid plaque are commonly seen in severe Alzheimers and dementia patients. Hericenones and Erinacines have been shown to reduce amyloid plaque and regenerate the myelin sheath. There is also ongoing studies for the use of Lion’s mane for neuropathy and nerve damage.
Beta-glucans
Beta Glucans are polysaccharides with medicinal properties found within all mushrooms. They are one of the primary medicinal components found within medicinal mushroo