The only edible member of the Monkey's Bench (Polypporaceae) family, Maitake is most commonly found at the base of Japanese oak trees, where it appears as a cluster of overlapping gray or brown fruiting bodies, which may reach over 25 kilograms in mass.

Maitake is indigenous to the north-eastern part of Japan. For hundreds of years, this rare and tasty mushroom has been prized in traditional Japanese herbology. This mushroom has a rippling form with no caps and grows in clusters, giving it an image of butterflies dancing to the Japanese eyes, thus named "Maitake" literally "dancing mushroom". Others say that Maitake is so named because people who found it in the deep mountains knew its delicious taste and health benefits and thus began dancing with joy.  

In the United States, they also are known as hen-of-the-woods because the mass of mushrooms looks like fluffed-up feathers. The stalks are often fused, massed at the base of stumps and on roots.