Have you ever seen a lion’s mane out in the wild? I haven’t either, but they are out there in the wilds of Mississippi.
Recently, Randy Bell of Mathiston was out in the woods looking at nature when all of a sudden there was a lion’s mane attached up in an oak tree.
A lion’s mane (hericium erinaceus) is an edible mushroom belonging to the tooth fungus group. It is a type of medicinal mushroom. It can be identified by its long spines that look like lion’s fur or mane.
“Research has found that lion's mane may protect against dementia, reduce mild symptoms of anxiety and depression and help repair nerve damage. It also has strong anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and immune-boosting abilities and been shown to lower the risk of heart disease, cancer, ulcers and diabetes in animals.”
Bell, knowing that Jean Berry of the Dancy community is an amateur autodidact (an authority on the subject), donated the football/basketball-size lion’s mane to her to eat, nonetheless. People from miles around call or send her photos of strange and unusual mushrooms growing in their yards, in the woods, in flowerbeds, in the trees, in cracks in the driveways, you name it, it will be growing there.
When being asked where do mushrooms grow, she tells all and sundry to stand still, look down and round and more than likely there will be some kind of mushroom growing. As kids we called them toadstools but today it is mushrooms, of which some are edible.
A number of mushrooms can be eaten but beware:
DO NOT EAT ANY WILD MUSHROOM WITHOUT FIRST CONFIRMING WITH AN EXPERT.
Here is a short list of edible ones: Portobello, cremini, white button, chanterelles, morels, boletes, chicken of the woods, hen of the woods, oyster, lion’s mane (the favorite is lion’s mane crab cakes), enoki, wood blewit and black-staining polypore. This list was taken from the internet: “Mushroom foraging Seasons of the Southeast.” Pictures are available.
