Hericium erinaceus
(Bull.) Pers. · speciesAt a glance
Sources13 archives
Databases and archives Hericium erinaceus's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation16 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility10 321 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI75 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics81 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
NPASSNat. Product Activity & Species Sourcecompounds↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗
Catalogue of LifeCOLtaxonomy↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Hericium erinaceus (also called lion's mane mushroom, mountain-priest mushroom or bearded tooth fungus) is an edible mushroom belonging to the tooth fungus group. Native to North America, Europe and Asia, it can be identified by its long spines (greater than 1 cm length), occurrence on hardwoods, and tendency to grow a single clump of dangling spines. The fruit bodies can be harvested for culinary use. Hericium erinaceus can be mistaken for other species of Hericium, which grow across the same range. In the wild, these mushrooms are common during late summer and fall on hardwoods, particularly American beech and maple. Usually H. erinaceus is considered saprophytic, as it mostly feeds on dead trees. However, it can also be found on living trees, so may be a tree parasite. This could indicate an endophytic habitat.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
No structured trait data for this taxon yet.
Compounds documented for Hericium erinaceus across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile5 classes
Documented compounds277 total
| Compound | Class | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| (-)-Cyatha-3,12-diene | present | LOTUS | |
| (1aR,2R,3aR,3bR,5S,6aR,7aS)-Decahydro-2-hydroxy-3a,5-dimethyl-3-methylenecyclopenta(4,5)pentaleno(1,6a-b)oxirene-5-carboxylic acid | present | NPASS | |
| (1R,4R,6S,7R,10S,12S,16R,17S,18S,19S)-1,17,18,19-tetrahydroxy-7,10-dimethyl-10-(4-methyl-3-oxopentyl)-3,5-dioxapentacyclo[13.3.1.04,17.06,16.07,12]nonadec-14-en-11-one | present | LOTUS | |
| (1R,4S,5S,9S,11R,14S,15R,16S,19R)-5,15,16-trihydroxy-21,22-dithia-3,13-diazahexacyclo[9.9.2.01,13.03,11.04,9.014,19]docos-6-ene-2,8,12,18-tetrone | present | NPASS | |
| (1R,6S)-6-[(1R)-1-hydroxyethyl]-3-(hydroxymethyl)-2,7-dioxabicyclo[4.1.0]hept-3-en-5-one | present | LOTUS | |
| (1S,2R,5S,7S,10S,11S,13S,14R,17S,18S,19R)-11,14,18-trihydroxy-2,5-dimethyl-5-(4-methyl-3-oxopentyl)-12,16,20-trioxapentacyclo[15.2.1.02,7.010,19.013,18]icosan-6-one | present | LOTUS | |
| (22E)-5alpha-Ergosta-7,22-diene-3beta,5,6alpha-triol 6-palmitate | present | LOTUS | |
| (2E,6E)-8-[2-[(1S,2S)-1-carboxy-2-methylbutyl]-4,6-dihydroxy-1-oxo-3H-isoindol-5-yl]-2,6-dimethylocta-2,6-dienoic acid | present | LOTUS | |
| (2R)-2-(1-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-isoindol-2-yl)-3-phenylpropanoic acid | present | LOTUS | |
| (2R)-3-methyl-2-(1-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-isoindol-2-yl)butanoic acid | present | LOTUS |
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Hericium erinaceus has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Hericium erinaceus carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers
Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type10 321 records
Origin
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions36 of 71 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| TENN-Flocation not on record | 44 |
| Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Researchlocation not on record | 26 |
| Kew, GB | 21 |
| Chicago, US | 20 |
| Durham, US | 16 |
| Olocation not on record | 10 |
| Davis and Elkins Collegelocation not on record | 9 |
| Vitoria, ES | 9 |
| Copenhagen, DK | 9 |
| Bronx, US | 9 |
| Champaign, US | 9 |
| San Sebastián, ES | 8 |
| Blacksburg, US | 8 |
| ILLSlocation not on record | 8 |
| Karlsruhe, DE | 7 |
| Zapopan, MX | 7 |
| Bando, JP | 7 |
| WTUlocation not on record | 7 |
| FLASlocation not on record | 6 |
| Pullman, US | 6 |
| Colorado State Universitylocation not on record | 5 |
| WU-MYClocation not on record | 5 |
| Tomioka, JP | 5 |
| National Mushroom Centre, Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Bhutanlocation not on record | 5 |
| St. Paul, US | 4 |
| LDlocation not on record | 4 |
| Cincinnati, US | 4 |
| Uppsala, SE | 4 |
| Vancouver, CA | 4 |
| National Museum of Natural Sciencelocation not on record | 4 |
| Osaka, JP | 4 |
| University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)location not on record | 3 |
| Museo civico di Storia naturale Giacomo Doria di Genova | Giacomo Doria Natural History Museum in Genoalocation not on record | 3 |
| Helsinki, FI | 3 |
| nsnflocation not on record | 3 |
| Baton Rouge, US | 3 |
| Museo Entomologico de Leonlocation not on record | 2 |
| Görlitz, DE | 2 |
| Nagatoro-machi, Chichibu-gun, JP | 2 |
| Department of Plant Resources, National Herbarium and Plant Laboratorieslocation not on record | 2 |
| Ann Arbor, US | 2 |
| Toronto, CA | 2 |
| Bardejov, SK | 2 |
| Chapel Hill, US | 2 |
| HabitatVisionlocation not on record | 2 |
| Salamanca, ES | 2 |
| Tartu, EE | 2 |
| Zürich, CH | 2 |
| Centro de Estudios Superiores del Estado de Sonoralocation not on record | 2 |
| McWane Science Centerlocation not on record | 2 |
| Catholic University of Pekinglocation not on record | 2 |
| Odawara, JP | 2 |
| Tilburg, NL | 2 |
| MeiseBGlocation not on record | 1 |
| BDBClocation not on record | 1 |
| Museum Ludovicae Ulricae, Zoology Institute of the University of Uppsalalocation not on record | 1 |
| BRNUlocation not on record | 1 |
| Staten Island, US | 1 |
| MAlocation not on record | 1 |
| Mlocation not on record | 1 |
| Laramie, US | 1 |
| Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznańlocation not on record | 1 |
| JA-CAGPDS-CAMlocation not on record | 1 |
| DIEF VALONSADEROlocation not on record | 1 |
| Acadia Universitylocation not on record | 1 |
| GJOlocation not on record | 1 |
| Saint Louis, US | 1 |
| Natural History Museum Rotterdamlocation not on record | 1 |
| Gijón, ES | 1 |
| California State University, East Baylocation not on record | 1 |
| Universidade de Lisboa, Museu Bocagelocation not on record | 1 |
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Where the DNA of Hericium erinaceus was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.