also known as Mountain-Priest mushroom, Bearded Tooth fungus, or Hou Tou Gu in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), has a thick, shaggy appearance, like that of a lion’s mane, and grows on hardwood trees. Its color changes over time, from snow-white to creamy-white, to yellow, then to brown. In TCM lion’s mane is considered sweet in taste and neutral in nature, and was used as a tonic for the five internal organs.

A rich source of antioxidants, the primary bioactive components of lion’s mane are polysaccharides (including B-glucans), and it contains diterpenoids, hericenones and erinacines, sterols, palmitic acid, linoleic acid, essential oils, amino acids, vitamins and minerals.*