Hen of the Woods / Maitake

 Digging around in my pic files again and came across this pic of some nice Hen of the Woods,Grifola frondosa, we picked a couple years ago. This is typical size of Maitake,as it is known in Japan, when mature. This batch was all growing around the base of one tree. They are actually over mature for prime eating and we only used the outer edges of each frond. They are one of the better eating mushrooms in our area but long slow cooking is best. They will fruit in the same location for years so we check back every year . This year some other picker had beat us to this one but we found others near by. Hunt for these in mature hardwoods, especially oaks, at the base of the tree. We find these in early to mid September in our area, about the time that nannyberries are ready to pick. Looking at this picture and then out the door where we have two feet of snow and more falling, makes me think mushrooming season will never get here!

Here is a pic of one called Northern Tooth. I couldn't find the Latin this morning but anyway, it is not edible. Just threw it in cause it looks neat. Usually found on maples around here.