First Monday Mushroom: Lion's Mane Mushroom

I thought that with last week's Fungal Word Friday being Teeth that it is only fitting to follow up with this month's First Monday Mushroom being one of the most exemplifying mushrooms for that term. So today I bring you Hericium erinaceus, the Lion's Mane Mushroom.

Hericium erinaceus on an old oak tree in Shave Wood

This mushroom is can be identified by its long teeth extending from a single (non branching) fruiting body, only easily mistaken as other members of the Hericium genus. It is a choice edible that can be found growing on hardwoods during the late summer, and is even cultivated and sold in stores.
Being found across North America, Europe, and Asia this mushroom has many common names from Lion's Mane, to Monkey's Head, to Deertail, to PomPom. In the end it is valued as food and even in some traditional medicine practices.

Scientific Classification

Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Basidiomycota
Subdivision:	Agaricomycotina
Class:	Agaricomycetes
Order:	Russulales
Family:	Hericiaceae
Genus:	Hericium
Species:	H. erinaceus

Photo Cred: Jim Champion [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons