Maitake
Grifola frondosa · 灰树花
Occasional薄孔菌科🍽 Cultivated Edible
A commercially cultivated edible fungus. Buy wild specimens only through reputable, regulated sources.
The same species can be described differently across regions and stages of maturity, and countless look-alike species cannot be told apart by eye. Never use the information on this page to judge whether a real mushroom is safe to eat.
How to Tell
- Many grayish brown fan-shaped lobes stack into a large cluster, flower-like
- Underside white with fine pores, no gills
- Grows at the base of oak and other hardwoods
ID notes are compiled by AI from public sources, not reviewed by a mycologist, for learning only — never a basis for foraging.
Basics
- Family
- 薄孔菌科
- Hymenium
- Pores
- Grows On
- Wood
- How Big
- 15–50 cm (overall size)
- Encounter Rate
- Occasional
- Habitat
- Base of oaks
Easily Confused With
Giant polyporeMany brown fan-shaped caps stacked into a large cluster, up to half a meter acrossFun Fact
Its Japanese name, 'maitake,' or 'dancing mushroom,' supposedly comes from foragers dancing with joy on finding one — a wild cluster can weigh over ten kilograms.