noun
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 .
Origin of maitake
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)