Shiitake

The shiitake or shii-take (Lentinula edodes, syn. Lentinus edodes; Chinese 冬菇, pinyin dōnggū / 香菇, xiānggū / 花菇, huāgū, obsolete 椎茸, zhuīróng, Japanese ^{椎茸? /i} shiiꜜtake) is a species of fungus in the family Omphalotaceae. Classically, it was classified among the larkspurge relatives (Tricholomataceae) or the stem porlings (Polyporales). The Japanese name shiitake means mushroom (take - 茸), which grows on the pasania tree (shii - 椎); the mushroom is therefore also called pasania mushroom in German.

It is counted among the most effective medicinal mushrooms in traditional Chinese medicine. Pharmacologically effective ingredients have been proven by scientific studies.

Features

The mushroom has a light to dark brown cap and grows on various deciduous trees, preferably those with hard wood. In China and Japan it has been cultivated for a long time, e.g. on beech, oak, sweet chestnut, maple, walnut and others. The lamellae run somewhat down the stem and are smooth to rough. The peduncle is usually in the middle of the cap, but may attach somewhat to the side. The edge of the cap is still curled inwards when young. The skin of the cap is usually covered with delicate flakes. In China, the shiitake is called dōnggū - 冬菇 - or xiānggū - 香菇 - which can be paraphrased as "mushroom of winter" or "fragrant mushroom" and refers to the fine, mushroomy fragrance it gives off when fresh or especially when dried. In contrast, huāgū - 花菇, is the king of shiitake mushrooms. It has a slightly dark surface (mushroom cap); the mushroom body, the "top of the calyx," is covered with patterns of white furrows, which gave it its name: "patterned (shiitake) mushroom." The "underside of the calyx" (mushroom lamellae) is slightly yellowish.

Distribution

In the forests of China and Japan, it grows wild, but the mushrooms available on the market there also all come from farms. Traditionally, trees are cut down during the growth phase, when the nutrients under the bark taste sweet. The fresh cut surfaces of the trees felled in this way form an ideal food base for the spores of the shiitake mushrooms. In Europe and North America, it does not occur in the wild, but is increasingly cultivated here as well.

Shiitake - Lentinula edodes, 2011