Hericium erinaceus

Monkey head mushroom (scientific name: Hericium erinaceus (Bull.) Pers.) is a fungus in the family of Odontococcaceae, genus Monkey head mushroom. The fruiting body is medium, large or large, 3.5-10(30) cm in diameter, fleshy, capitate or inverted ovate in shape, resembling the head of a monkey, so it is called “monkey head”. The base is narrow, and the base of artificially cultivated monkey head mushroom is often shank-like because it grows in the mouth of bottles or plastic bags. In addition to the base, the periphery is covered with spines. The spines are 1-5 centimeters long, needle-shaped, and 1-2 millimeters thick. Spores are borne on the surface of the thorns, spherical, (5.5-7.5) µm x (5-6) µm in diameter, containing oil droplets, and the spore mass is white.

Morphological characteristics

The fruiting bodies are medium, large, or large, 3.5-10(30) cm in diameter, fleshy, capitate or obovate in shape, resembling the head of a monkey, hence the name “monkey head”. All white when fresh, turning creamy white to light yellow or light brown when dry, lumpy, consisting of numerous fleshy soft spines growing on a narrow or short stalk, the spines slender and pendulous, 1-5 cm long, 1-2 mm thick at the upper end, thin and sharp at the lower end, needle-like, pendulous, slightly curved, with the surface of the spines covered with a layer of fruiting bodies. Inside the substratum there are fat and thick and short branches, fused with each other, cauliflower-like, with small pores in the middle, the whole is a lump of flesh, soft and tender, white, with a clear flavor, and solid inside. Under the microscope, the stretcher is 20 microns long and 6 microns wide, the spores are subglobose, colorless, transparent, containing an oil droplet, (5.5-7.5) microns by (5-6) microns. Spores amyloid, spore print white.

Origin and Distribution

The monkey head mushroom is widely distributed in nature, mainly in broad-leaved forests or mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests in the north temperate zone, such as Western Europe, North America, Japan and Russia. In China, it is mainly distributed in the large and small Hinggan Mountains in the northeast, the Tianshan Mountains and Altay Mountains in the northwest, the Himalayas in the west and the forested areas of the Hengduan Mountains in the southwest, including the provincial-level autonomous regions of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Yunnan, Xizang, Zhejiang, and Fujian, etc. .

Monkey head mushroom is both an edible treasure and an important medicinal mushroom in China. Monkey head mushroom is one of the eight “mountain treasures” in China, since ancient times, there are “mountain treasures monkey head, sea food bird's nest”, and the bear's paw, sea cucumber and shark's fin and listed as one of the four famous dishes, tender meat flavor, delicious, nutritious, color, aroma and taste superior. In addition, Monkey Head Mushroom is also a traditional Chinese precious Chinese medicine, with the function of nourishing and fitness, helping digestion and benefiting the five organs. Modern research shows that it contains peptides, polysaccharides, fats and proteins and other active ingredients, which are effective for digestive tract tumors, gastric and duodenal ulcers, gastritis, bloating and so on.