Here are some lions and bears for #mushroommonday
I took a trip to Missouri this weekend and on my hikes I found a forest with lots of lion's mane mushrooms.
This particular specimen is still quite young as it hasn't developed its teeth spore dispensers yet.
Here is another one growing on a dead log. This one actually has its toothy spore dispensers.
Now you can see why it's common name is lion's mane. It's latin name is Hericium erinaceus and it is a good edible and medicinal mushroom.
Here is a close-up of the spikes. These can grow quite long but as they age they turn brownish but are still good to harvest as a medicinal if they turn brown. At this age they are good to harvest for cooking.
This is an older specimen, you can see the teeth starting to turn brown. I usually harvest older specimens then soak them in a hard alcohol like vodka to bring out their beneficial chemicals. You can also dehydrate and powder them and add the powder to tea. Their medical benefits contribute to mental clarity and help reduce plaques in the brain that contribute to alzheimers.
Here is a similar species very closely related to lion's mane, this one is called bear's head mushroom with a latin name of Hericium americanum. It tastes exactly the same as lion's mane and has all the same medicinal benefits as well. It does seem to be a bit more rare compared to lion's mane.
Now for a UFO, I suspect it is related to lion's mane and bear's tooth but these little guys were very tiny compared to the other two species.
Meanwhile this slug is on its way to gobble up the lion's mane. His one eye is pointing right at it lol.
That's all for now more soon...