{{Redirect|Ram's Head|the shoe|pigache|locations with that name|Ram Head (disambiguation){{!}}Ram Head|the military skill badge|Ram's Head Device|the head of the male animal|sheep}} {{Speciesbox | name = Maitake | image = Grifola frondosa (29715305790).jpg | image2 = Hen of the Woods (22602103527).jpg | taxon = Grifola frondosa | authority = (Dicks.) Gray (1821) | synonyms = *''Boletus frondosus'' <small>Dicks. (1785)</small> * ''Polyporus frondosus'' <small>Fr.</small><ref name=McIlvaine/> }} {{mycomorphbox | name = ''Grifola frondosa'' | whichGills = decurrent | capShape = offset | capShape2 = no | hymeniumType = pores | stipeCharacter = bare | ecologicalType = parasitic | sporePrintColor = white | howEdible = choice | howEdible2 = allergenic }} '''''Grifola frondosa''''', also known as '''hen-of-the-woods''', '''sheep's head''',<ref name="Arora1986">{{Cite book |last=Arora |first=David |author-link=David Arora |url=https://archive.org/details/arora-david-mushrooms-demystified-a-comprehensive-guide-to-the-fleshy-fungi-ten-speed-press-1986/page/564/mode/2up |title=Mushrooms Demystified: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fleshy Fungi |publisher=Ten Speed Press |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-89815-170-1 |edition=2nd |location=Berkeley, CA |pages=564-65 |orig-date=1979}}</ref> '''ram's head''', or {{nihongo3|"dancing mushroom"|舞茸|'''maitake'''}} in Japanese, is a polypore mushroom that grows at the base of trees, particularly old growth oaks or maples. It is native to China, Europe, and North America.
It is an edible mushroom long used in East Asian cuisine and studied for its potential health benefits, though no high-quality clinical evidence supports its medicinal use.
==Description==
''G. frondosa'' grows from an underground tuber-like structure known as a sclerotium, about the size of a potato.<ref name="Arora1986" /> The fruiting bodies form clumps up to {{convert|50|cm|abbr=on}}<ref name="tfb">{{Cite book |last=Francis-Baker |first=Tiffany |title=Concise Foraging Guide |date=2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-4729-8474-6 |series=The Wildlife Trusts |location=London |pages=124}}</ref> or rarely {{convert|150|cm|abbr=on|-1}}.{{citation needed|date=December 2025}} The mushrooms toughen as they mature.<ref name=McIlvaine>{{Cite book |last1=McIlvaine |first1=Charles |last2=Macadam |first2=Robert K.|title=One Thousand American Fungi |publisher=Dover Publications |year=1973 |isbn=0486227820 |location=New York |pages=483 |language=en |url=https://archive.org/details/onethousandameri0000mcil/page/n619/mode/2up}}</ref>
The caps are grayish-brown, often curled or spoon-shaped, with wavy margins and {{convert|2-10|cm|frac=2|abbr=on}} broad.<ref name="Phillips">{{cite book |last=Phillips |first=Roger |title=Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America |publisher=Firefly Books |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-55407-651-2 |location=Buffalo, NY |page=300 |url=https://archive.org/details/mushroomsotherfu0000phil/page/300/mode/2up }}</ref> The undersurface of each cap bears about one to three pores per millimeter, with the tubes rarely deeper than {{convert|3|mm|frac=32|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Phillips/> The cream-coloured stipe (stalk) has a branchy structure.<ref name="audu">{{Cite book |last=Audubon |title=Mushrooms of North America |publisher=Knopf |year=2023 |isbn=978-0-593-31998-7 |pages=263}}</ref> The spore print is white.<ref name="Phillips"/>
In Japan, the {{Transliteration|ja|maitake}} can grow to more than {{convert|100|lb|kg|abbr=off|order=flip}}.
<gallery mode="packed" widths="100px" heights="100px"> File:Klapperschwamm.jpg|Clumps File:Maitake mushroom.jpg|Close-up File:Grifola frondosa cross-section.jpg|Cross-section File:Grifola frondosa 2014 G3.jpg|Vinnytsia Raion, Ukraine </gallery>
===Similar species=== ''G. frondosa'' is a very distinct mushroom except for its cousin, the black staining mushroom, which is similar in taste but rubbery. Edible species which look similar to ''G. frondosa'' include ''Meripilus sumstinei'' (which stains black), ''Sparassis spathulata''<ref>{{cite book |last=Meuninck |first=Jim |title=Foraging Mushrooms Oregon: Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Mushrooms |date=2017 |publisher=Falcon Guides |isbn=978-1-4930-2669-2 |page=114}}</ref> and ''Laetiporus sulphureus'', another edible bracket fungus that is commonly called chicken of the woods or "sulphur shelf". ''Polyporus umbellatus'' has distinct roundish caps.<ref name="audu" />
==Distribution and habitat== It is native to China, Europe (August to October),<ref name="tfb" /> and eastern North America<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Meuninck |first1=Jim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ldXRCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA14 |title=Jim Meuninck - Basic Illustrated Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms, pp. 13-14, Rowman & Littlefield, 1 Jun 2015 |date=2015-06-01 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9781493014682 |access-date=27 April 2017}}</ref> (from September to October).<ref name="audu" />
It occurs most prolifically in eastern North America, but has been found as far west as Idaho.<ref name="Arora1986" />
Like the sulphur shelf mushroom, ''G. frondosa'' is a perennial fungus that often grows in the same place for several years in succession.{{citation needed|date=December 2025}}
==Uses== The species is a choice edible mushroom,<ref name="Miller 2006">{{cite book|last1=Miller Jr.|first1=Orson K.|title=North American Mushrooms: A Field Guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi|last2=Miller|first2=Hope H.|publisher=FalconGuides|year=2006|isbn=978-0-7627-3109-1|location=Guilford, CN|pages=420|author-link=Orson K. Miller Jr.}}</ref> especially the young caps when slow cooked, although some may be allergic to it.<ref name="Arora1986" /> The softer caps must be thoroughly cooked.<ref name="Phillips" /> It can also be pickled.<ref name="Arora1986" />
Maitake has been consumed for centuries in China and Japan<ref name="drugs">{{cite web |date=2 September 2019 |title=Maitake, ''Grifola frondosa'' |url=https://www.drugs.com/npp/maitake.html |access-date=19 December 2019 |publisher=Drugs.com}}</ref> where it is one of the major culinary mushrooms.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}} The mushroom is used in many Japanese dishes, such as ''nabemono''.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}
<gallery mode="packed" widths="160px" heights="160px"> File:Maitake Mushroom Tempura 2021 Grifola frondosa 舞茸の天ぷら.jpg|Maitake tempura File:Maitake rice (4348648458).jpg|In ''takikomi gohan'' File:Maitake soba noodle (5539374215).jpg|With soba noodles </gallery>
=== Research === Although under laboratory and preliminary clinical research for many years, particularly for the possible biological effects of its polysaccharides, there are no completed, high-quality Phase III clinical studies for the species {{as of|2019|lc=y}}.<ref name="drugs" /><ref name="msk">{{cite web |date=2019 |title=Maitake |url=https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/maitake |access-date=19 December 2019 |publisher=Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center}}</ref>
According to a 2009 study, a sulfated polysaccharide extracted from the species can serve as an immunomodulator for survivors of breast cancer with no apparent maximum dose, although the botanical source "may not produce optimal clinical effects".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Deng |first=Gary |last2=Lin |first2=Hong |last3=Seidman |first3=Andrew |last4=Fornier |first4=Monica |last5=D’Andrea |first5=Gabriella |last6=Wesa |first6=Kathleen |last7=Yeung |first7=Simon |last8=Cunningham-Rundles |first8=Susanna |last9=Vickers |first9=Andrew J. |last10=Cassileth |first10=Barrie |date=2009-09-01 |title=A phase I/II trial of a polysaccharide extract from Grifola frondosa (Maitake mushroom) in breast cancer patients: immunological effects |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-009-0562-z |journal=Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology |language=en |volume=135 |issue=9 |pages=1215–1221 |doi=10.1007/s00432-009-0562-z |issn=1432-1335 |pmc=3751581 |pmid=19253021}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Commons category-inline|italic=on}}
{{Medicinal herbs & fungi}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q1165686}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Edible fungi Category:Experimental cancer treatments Category:Fungi in cultivation Category:Fungi described in 1785 Category:Fungi of Europe Category:Fungi of North America Category:Medicinal fungi Category:Meripilaceae Category:Taxa named by James Dickson (botanist) Category:Fungus species Category:Fungi used for fiber dyes