Description

Lion’s Mane Agar Plate

Hericium erinaceus

Lion’s Mane Information

Hericium erinaceus, or Lion’s Mane, have a relatively wide distribution of where they grow naturally. They’re native to North America, Europe, and Asia. This mushroom is extremely widespread throughout Asia, being much more prevalent there than in North America. Additionally, it has been used in China for its medicinal properties for hundreds of years. Today, it’s still widely produced in China, typically using wood logs to cultivate them. 

While present in the UK, it’s listed as endangered. In fact, they’ve been protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Protection Act since 1998. Under this act it’s illegal to forage these mushrooms from the wild. This means that the only way to legally get your hands on some in the UK is to either grow them yourself or get them from someone who has. 

This is a Saprophytic mushroom– meaning they eat dead trees. Even so, they are still found colonizing live trees from time to time. A wounded tree makes an excellent habitat for the mycelium to colonize and eventually produce fruiting bodies. 

The best time to forage for Lion’s Mane is in late summer to fall. Moreover, they’re almost always found growing on hardwoods. Maple and American Beech are some of their favorite food sources. Nevertheless, you can also find them growing on oak, walnut, sycamore, as well as others. On average, a colony of Lion’s Mane mycelium can survive and intermittently fruit from the same tree for 20 years. Yet, many experts hypothesize that they can survive twice that and continue to produce fruit for 40 years!

Why Grow Your Own Lion’s Mane Mushrooms?

Health Benefits

• Lion’s mane are renowned for their ability to improve brain health and function!
• It may help prevent Alzheimer’s and dementia by stimulating the growth of brain cells and help repair damaged neurons according to recent studies
• Commonly used as a health supplement
  • Lion’s mane has become one of the most popular mushroom supplements on the market. However, many of them are only powdered mycelium on substrate which contains little of the actual parts that provide health benefits. For this reason it is extremely beneficial to grow your own at home if you are looking to use them for supplemental purposes. If you currently have Lion’s Mane supplements, check the ingredient list on the back to see if it is made from fruiting bodies or myceliated substrate
• Can help with anxiety and depression by improving functions in the hippocampus
• Research has found that it can help the recovery of nervous system injuries by stimulating both the growth and repair of nerve cells
• These health benefits just scratch the surface of all the things this amazing fungus can do- there are many more that are not included here!

Ways To Take As A Supplement

• Make a powder out of dried Lion’s Mane and put into empty capsules
• Mix powdered Lion’s Mane into hot coffee or tea
• Mix whole or powdered Lion’s Mane mushrooms into smoothies
• Make a tincture out of dried Lion’s Mane via alcohol extracts

Flavor Profile

• Lion’s Mane are considered as a true gourmet mushroom due to both their delicious taste and meaty texture
• Known to be mildly sweet
• Taste reminiscent of seafood
• The texture and flavor are very similar to crab or lobster

Popular Uses in Cooking

• Delicious vegetarian substitute for seafood, especially for crab or lobster
• Good accompaniment for seafood
• Enjoyable on it’s own sauteed in butter
• Slice, coat in oil or butter, and put them on the grill to make Lion’s Mane steaks

Growing Conditions

• Colonization time: 2-4 weeks
  • Note: Most Hericium mushrooms, Lion’s mane included, are known to have thin, wispy mycelium when colonizing. Due to this, it may look like the substrate is not fully colonized, but if you see any pins forming send it straight into fruiting conditions
• Fruiting time: 5-10 days
• Humidity: 80-90%
• Temperature: 68-75°F
  • Note: Listed above are ideal temperatures and humidities. However this species is not too picky and can still fruit higher or lower than this range. In fact, we had a severely neglected Lion’s Mane bag outside in Phoenix with no supplemental humidity that still produced fruits.

Why Buy Our Lion’s Mane Agar Plates?

We strive to provide you with the cleanest possible products. We inoculate all of the Lion’s Mane plates in front of Laminar Flow Hoods with HEPA filters. These HEPA filters have an efficiency rating of 99.97%. Meaning that the filter removes 99.97% of particles in the air.  

• Colonized agar plates allow you to cultivate your own medicinal mushrooms at home!
• Discreet packaging
• Store at room temperature
• Remains viable for ~6 months
• DO NOT FREEZE

Lion’s Mane Agar Plate Contents

Each plate will come with:

• 1 plate of healthy, uncontaminated Lion’s Mane mycelium
• 1 alcohol prep pad
• 1 sticker (1 per order)