I was walking in the woods the other day and came across something I had never seen before; it was down in the hollow base of a large tree. Looking into the cavity, there appeared to be a round, white, puffy ball lodged in a hole. My first thought was that some animal, such as a white rabbit, had become lodged in there and was stuck. Of course, my eyesight isn't quite what it once was, so I just wasn't certain what it was that was down in that hole. It almost looked like a ball of snow, but we hadn't had any, so I knew it couldn't be that.
I took the logical approach and poked it with a stick. That didn't tell me much, so I then proceeded to dig it out with the stick. It was stuck and didn't come out easily and in fact, came out in pieces. I wish I had thought to take an image of it before I tore it up. It was very cold and a bit squishy to the touch.
I, of course, had to research a bit to find out what this cold, squishy ball of rubbery stuff might be so I searched first on iNaturalist. There, I found it to be a Lion's Mane Mushroom, Hericium erinaceus. It is edible and has medicinal properties. Some of the benefits are related to immune function, anxiety and depression, cognitive health, heart health, cancer, diabetes, digestive health, wound healing and nervous system recovery. Seems like an important mushroom with which to become acquainted!
You never know what you will find if you just get out and explore a bit.
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