It's a self-ballast mercury vapor (SBMV) lamp. Mercandescent must be a trade mark. What it is, is a MV arc tube that is ballasted by an incandescent filament so that the MV lamp can run in a standard socket. I have a westinghouse one. and yep, it has a hot restrike time. several minutes to restrike. longer than a normal MV. probably about as long as a MH.