Fungal finds from Michigan, USA including Golden Reishi (Ganoderma curtisii), a relative of the mushroom of immortality

Mushroom Monday - The North American Relative of the "Mushroom of Immortality"

By tych0_21 | MyMycoBlog | 8 Nov 2021

Happy Mushroom Monday! I'm very excited to share with you some of my most recent fungal finds from the state of Michigan, USA, including a species that is exceptionally rare for my region: the Golden Reishi (Ganoderma curtisii). Golden Reishi, is a saprotrophic polypore species that primarily inhabits the Southeastern United States and Southern Mexico. Though not outside its known range, to find this species growing as far North as my home state of Michigan is an extremely rare occurrence. In addition to its rarity, this mushroom is thought to be the most closely related species in North America to the famed Red Reishi (Ganoderma lingzhi), a fungi used in traditional Chinese medicine for over 2,000 years and commonly referred to as "The Mushroom of Immortality."

The benefits of Red Reishi, also commonly referred to as Lingzhi, in traditional Chinese medicine date back to the Han dynasty (206 BC – 9 AD). The mushroom is typically administered using a hot water extract. Thinly slice or pulverized bits of the fungi (fresh or dried) would be added to boiling water, reduced to a simmer, and left for 2 hours or more to produce a dark, bitter liquid that was thought to benefit one's life energy (Qi) and vitality. It was even thought that prolonged use of the mushroom could cease aging and allow users to live forever, hence the name "The Mushroom of Immortality."

Clinical research on Red Reishi has uncovered a diverse array of phytochemicals produced by the species that resemble human steroid compounds. Sterols of interest isolated from this species include ganoderol, ganoderenic acid, ganoderiol, ganodermanontriol, lucidadiol, and ganodermadiol. While research is still ongoing, the use of Red Reishi as a supplemental treatment for several cancers, including lung and prostate cancer, have been shown to be highly effective in both mice and human trials when combined with conventional cancer treatments. Though comparable studies regarding the potential medicinal benefits of Golden Reishi have yet to be undertaken, recent genetic analysis has identified Golden Reishi to be among the closest relatives of Red Reishi native to North America.

Apart from the Golden Reishi, I came across plenty of other fascinating fungi over the last few days. Some of my favorite finds include the Ravenel's Stinkhorn (Phallus ravenelii), a species that emits a foul odor to attract flies and other insects to consume it's spores as a means of transporting them to new, fertile substrate, and the Ochre Jelly Club (Leotia lubrica), and olive-green and gelatinous species commonly referred to as "jelly babies."

I hope that you enjoy the images shown below! As always, feel free to offer your suggestions if you believe that I have misidentified any of the species shown in this post. Happy Mushroom Monday!

Golden Reishi (Ganoderma curtisii):