mai·ta·ke (m ī-tä k ē, -k ĕ)
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n. An edible polypore mushroom (Grifola frondosa) native to Japan and North America that produces large clusters of overlapping gray or brown fan-shaped caps, grows at the base of trees or in cultivation, and is prized in Japanese cuisine and used as a dietary supplement. Also called hen of the woods.
[Japanese, dancing mushroom (from the resemblance of the layered, frondlike caps to the long fluttering sleeves of traditional Japanese dancers) : mai-, stem of mau, to dance (from Old Japanese mahu) + take, mushroom (from Old Japanese).] |