Can’t buy these mushrooms in a store!
Snowcap and Miss Happiness are a cool weather strain of an oak log-grown shiitake. They are a true heirloom Shiitake, where these cannot be force-fruited in a grow room, but will only fruit outside in the forest when the temperatures fluctuate in the spring and autumn. (That’s why you might find some pine needles.)
They are highly regarded in Japan as Donko grade shiitake renowned for the cracked fissures on their caps and thick meaty flesh due to the slower growth. Highly nutritious, “a shiitake a day keeps the doctor away” (Japanese Proverb!).