Hericium species

Including Pompon Blanc™ or bear’s head and wild Hericium species

I am sorry about the heading above, but there is so little agreement on common and species names that I can offer only the genus, Hericium, as a sure thing. The cultivated and wild forms of a mushroom are always distinct, but farmed Hericium is so different from wild as to be unrecognizable and to require different care and handling. Hence, the two-part entry that follows.

Pompon Blanc and bear’s head are two market names for cultivated Hericium erinaceus, a mushroom that is more likely to be available than any of the wild Hericium species. Paul Stamets, author of Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms, gives these names as well: lion’s mane, monkey’s head, old man’s beard, satyr’s beard, pom pom, and yamabushi-take (which he translates as “mountain-priest mushroom”). Most, if not all (depending upon your interpretation), refer to the soft white glissade of “teeth” (in lieu of gills) that distinguishes this species as well as others of the genus Hericium.