Hen of the Woods / Maitake

Grifola frondosa

At the bases of deciduous trees, especially oaks, lindens, hazels. Summer, autumn.

A many-capped, annual mushroom, very large, massive, heavy, in rare cases weighing up to 20 kg. The fruiting body has an irregularly shaped central stem from which many stem-like branches grow, each branch topped by a semicircular, fan- or tongue-shaped cap 4-10 cm across. Caps tough, up to 1 cm thick, with wavy margins, concentrically wrinkled, yellowish-grey, older ones greyish-brown in colour. Tubes white, short. Flesh white, with a pleasant smell and a slightly bitter taste. Grows beside stumps or snags, at the root collars of living trees. Causes white rot of wood. Edible, rarely found. Protected.