Grifola frondosa is a polypore mushroom that grows at the base of trees, particularly oaks. Also known as hen-of-the-woods, maitake (舞茸, "dancing mushroom"), ram's head or sheep's head. It is typically found in late summer to early autumn. It is native to China, Europe, and North America.[2]
Description
Like the sulphur shelf mushroom, G. frondosa is a perennial fungus that often grows in the same place for a number of years in succession. It occurs most prolifically in the northeastern regions of the United States, but has been found as far west as Idaho.[citation needed]
G. frondosa grows from an underground tuber-like structure known as a sclerotium, about the size of a potato. The fruiting body, occurring as large as 100 centimetres (40 inches), rarely 150 cm (60 in), is a cluster consisting of multiple grayish-brown caps which are often curled or spoon-shaped, with wavy margins and 2–10 cm (1–4 in) broad.[3] The undersurface of each cap bears about one to three pores per millimeter, with the tubes rarely deeper than 3 mm (1⁄8 in).[3] The milky-white stipe (stalk) has a branchy structure and becomes tough as the mushroom matures.[citation needed]
In Japan, the maitake can grow to more than 45 kilograms (100 pounds), earning this giant mushroom the title "king of mushrooms". [4]
Identification
Some similar-looking species are toxic.[citation needed] Edible species which look similar to Grifola frondosa include Meripilus sumstinei (which stains black), Sparassis spathulata[5] and Laetiporus sulphureus, another edible bracket fungus that is commonly called chicken of the woods or "sulphur shelf".
Uses
The species is a choice edible mushroom.[6] Maitake has been consumed for centuries in China and Japan[7] where it is one of the major culinary mushrooms.[citation needed] The mushroom is used in many Japanese dishes, such as nabemono.[citation needed] The softer caps must be thoroughly cooked.[3]
| This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Metasyntactic variable, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. |