Pholiota alnicola (photo credits 1.126)
Clockwise from above: Pholiota squarrosa; Pholiota squarrosa; Pholiota nameko; Pholiota squarrosa; Pholiota nameko. (photo credits 1.127)
Pholiota is from the Greek meaning “with scaly cap.” Aurivella is Latin meaning “with golden skin.” Flammans means “flaming” in Latin. Aurea means “golden,” Mutabilis means “mutable” or “changeable,” and Lucrica means “lubricated.” Squarrosa means “scaly” or “scurfy” and alnicola means “alder-growing,” although it is associated with various hardwoods. Adiposa is from adeps meaning “fat.”
Golden skinned Pholiota is found higher in trees, often in the frost cracks of birch. It is said to be edible, but this author has no culinary experience. David Arora does not recommend it, as not only is it slimy, but it sometimes causes digestive upsets. I will pass.
Flaming Pholiota is bright yellow with a most unpleasant odor and is considered edible.
Alaskan gold, or golden false pholiota, is a good-sized golden-brown to orange-brown mushroom. It grows in groups or large clumps, usually near alder but not restricted to this tree. It is edible to some but poisonous to others, so avoid serving it at a large dinner party.
Changeable Pholiota is common to the mountains of Pacific Northwest and widely distributed elsewhere. The mushroom can be easily cultivated, like the oyster, on pieces of inoculated wood. It is edible, but can be confused with the poisonous Galerina autumnalis, a genus to which it was previously classified.
Where found, it will sometimes cover the entire tree stump or log. An alternate name, brown stew mushroom, suggests its suitability in soups and sauces, adding a fruity odor and flavor.
Destructive Pholiota (P. destruens or P. populnea) is common on balsam and cottonwood poplar throughout North America. It has a scaly, white cap and brown spores and is edible, but not really recommended.
The related scaly Pholiota (P. squarrosa) has a yellow-brown scaly cap and a ring on the stalk. It is usually found in clusters at the base of live poplar in mid-summer. It has a strong garlic-radish odor and is considered poisonous, or at least appears to cause stomach upset in some diners. Proceed with caution. Pieter Van Der Schoot, a fellow director of the Alberta Mycological Society, says it is a good edible, but I’m not totally convinced. Several books allude to difficult digestion.
The look-alike P. squarrosoides is edible and has a mild taste and odor. I avoid both.
Alder tuft, a rusty brown-spored Pholiota that is found on decayed alder and sometimes on willow or birch, has shiny, yellow flesh when cut.
Slender Pholiota is widely distributed under pine and other conifers. It has a distinct corn or corn silk odor.
Fat Pholiota (P. adiposa) is a mediocre edible living on living and dead birch trees. In Japan, it is known as numerisugitake.
The Japanese P. nameko can be cultivated on sawdust or logs of poplar, oak and other hardwood species. It requires constant moisture, so burying logs works better than stacking. Also known as P. glutinosa, nameko is a superior gourmet mushroom. It does have a slimy cap, like other Pholiota, that disappears upon cooking. It may grow well in parts of North America.
P. adiposa: 15-hydroxy-6alpha, 12-epoxy-7beta, 10alpha H, 11betaH-spiroax-4-ene, 1-linoleic-2-olein, stigmasterol, and 1-(N,N,N-trimethylethylaminophosporyll)-2,3-dilinoleinion.
P. spumosa: putrescine-1,4-dicinnamamide, maytenine and pholiotic acid, and fasciculol.
P. squarrosa: epicoccamide D.
Inhibition tests with sarcoma 180 indicate flaming Pholiota is 90 percent effective, while Ehrlich carcinoma was inhibited by 100 percent (Ohtsuka et al. 1973).
The inhibition rate of P. aurea against sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich carcinoma is up to 100 percent.
Changeable Pholiota shows activity against gram-positive bacteria. Mycelium extracts show activity against influenza viruses type A and B (Mentel et al. 1994).
Kuehneromyces species contain the active compound kuehneromycine B, which shows activity reducing blood platelet binding.
Fat Pholiota (P. adiposa) contains a number of interesting compounds.
Extracts have been found to decrease retro-peritoneal fat in mice fed high-fat diets (Cho, S. M. et al. 2006).
H. E. Yu et al. (2007) found methanol extracts of the fruiting body inhibit HMG-CoA reductase, an enzyme related to cholesterol synthesis, by nearly 56 percent. The purified product is stigmasterol, common to many plants and fungi.
Work in China, where it is cultivated, shows that the sticky substance on the mushroom’s surface contains polysacharose A. This has shown an inhibition rate against sarcoma 180 of 80 percent and Ehrlich carcinoma of 90 percent.
Earlier work by Ohtsuka et al. (1973) found extracts of the fruiting body inhibited the above cancer cells by 70 percent and 60 percent respectively.
Two compounds with weak cytotoxicity against murine leukemia cells have been identified: 1-linoleic-2-olein and stigmasterol (Chung et al. 2005).
Yongxun Zhao et al. (2007) identified mycelium polysaccharides with antitumor activity, due to immune function.
It may prevent infection from Staphylococcus, Pneumonia bacillus, and Tuberculinum mycobacterium. Dulger et al. (2002b) found 60 percent methanol extracts possess significant antimicrobial activity against Bacillus subtilis, E. coli, S. aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Mycobacterium smegmatis.
The fungi inhibit angiotensin converting enzyme (Izawa et al. 2006). A novel pentapeptide was found, particularly powerful with an IC50 of 0.044 milligrams (Koo et al. 2006).
Guoqing Zhang et al. (2009) reported a lectin with anti-proliferative activity against HepG2 and breast cancer cell lines, and inhibition of HIV reverse transcription, both with very low IC50s.
A novel functional or nutraceutical rice wine containing 0.1 percent fruiting bodies and 1 percent wolfberry shows an ACE-inhibition rate of 82 percent. The idea of fermented drinks, such as wine and beers, with herbal and fungal components opens a whole new arena in the promotion of health and wellness.
Various Kuehneromyces species contain kuehneromycine B, which reduces blood platelet binding.
Lubricous Pholiota has been shown, in laboratory tests, to lower blood cholesterol levels. It shows 100 percent inhibition of Ehrlich carcinoma and 90 percent inhibition of sarcoma 180.
Studies have shown that slender Pholiota is active against the fungus Botrytis cinerea (Pujol et al. 1990).
Russo et al. (2007) found the mushroom contains putrescine-1,4-dicinnamamide that inhibits human prostate cancer cell growth and induces apoptosis.
Maytenine and pholiotic acid also show similar inhibitory activity (Clericuzio et al. 2007).
Pholiotic acid is a name given earlier to an illudalane metabolite of P. destruens below. This will have to be changed to avoid confusing scientists.
Slender Pholiota contains fasciculol, a rare lanostane triterpenoid conjugated to a depsipeptide unit, and two bis-amides derived from cinnamic acid.
Putrescine-1,4-dicinnamamide is common in angiosperm plants, but not in fungi.
The fruiting body of destructive Pholiota contains pholiotic acid, an illudalane sesquiterpene, 35-dichoro-4-methoxy-benzaldehyde and its alcohol.
Becker et al. (1994) found the compounds to exhibit weak antifungal and cytostatic activity.
A tetramic acid, epicoccamide D, found in P. squarrosa, has been found to exhibit weak to moderate cytotoxicity against HeLa cell lines and human leukemia cell lines (K-562) (Wangun and Hertweck 2007).
Water and sodium hydroxide extracts are 60 percent and 90 percent effective against sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich carcinoma in mice. The fungus protects against Staphylococcus, E. coli, Baeillus pneumoniae, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections.
Alder tuft mycelia exhibits antioxidant activity higher than 44 percent (Badalyan 2003). This suggests further study for the development of natural antioxidant supplements. The same level of activity was found in mycelium from Schizophyllum commune. Turkey tail (Trametes versicolor) showed antioxidant activity higher than 20 percent in the same study.
The fruiting bodies showed activity against S. aureus and E. coli (Robbins et al. 1945).
Kuehneromcyces has a distinctly earthy fragrance that may be of interest in perfume work.
Claudopus nidulans
Panellus nidulans
(SMELLY OYSTER)
Phyllotopsis nidulans
Phyllotopsis means “looking like a gilled mushroom,” and nidulans is from the Latin for “nesting.”
This beautiful saffron orange mushroom is found on birch, but be warned, it has the smell of rotting cabbage. Eat it only if you have anosmia.
The mushroom exhibits activity against Staphylococcus aureus.
Polyporus betulinus
Placodes betulinus
Ungulina betulina
(RAZOR STROP)
(BIRCH CONK)
(BIRCH POLYPORE)
Imagine you’re a birch tree, with white, and shiny bark
Would you prefer that razor strop or chaga leave its mark?
The former’s an eraser, gently curved and smooth,
The tinderconk a rusty scab you’d rather like to soothe.
The betulin cures cancer, and spares Betula’s life.
While the softer looking razor strop cuts your heartwood like a knife.
—RDR
Commonly found growing on northern birch trees, this mushroom was used instead of a leather strip as a razor strop by poor families in Victorian times, hence its common name.
The wood decayed by the fungus, as well as mycelium cultures, have the distinct odor of green apples.
It is edible when very young and fresh and can be sliced and boiled in soups. After only a few days of room temperature storage, however, the taste of the drying polypores becomes quite sour.
This mushroom can be roasted until black and then powdered and applied to bleeding wounds as an antiseptic.
In parts of Britain, the inner layer was cut into small strips as a styptic and as corn pads for the feet.
One Australian doctor has reported great success in using this mushroom to treat ingrown toenails (Hilton 1987).
The polypore was used traditionally in Bohemia to treat stomach disease and rectal cancer.
P. betulinus was once used throughout Europe, and is still used today in Italy and Poland, to facilitate the excretion of intestinal parasites.
Oetzi, the Ice Man, who died 5,300 years ago, was discovered relatively intact a few years ago in a mountain pass carrying two walnut sized spheres of the birch conk, mounted on a decorated leather thong; can you explain what this is? (F. fomentarius).
“The discovery of the fungus suggests that the Ice Man was aware of his intestinal parasites (Trichuris trichiura) and fought them with measured doses of Piptoporus betulinus,” wrote Dr. Capasso of Italy’s National Archeological Museum, who has studied the use of the polypore (P. betulinus) as a powerful but short-acting laxative that contains oils that are toxic to intestinal parasites. “The toxic oils in the fungus were probably the only remedy available in Europe” until thousands of years later.
Piptoporus betulinus (photo credits 1.129)
Polyporenic acid A and C, 1,3-beta-D-glucopyranan, B ergosta -7,22-dien-3-ol, fungisterol, ergosterol, agaric acid, dehydrotumulosic acid, ungalinic acid, betulinic acid, and tumulosic acid. Also contains 4-methylmorpholine-N-oxide, a methyl sulfoxide soluble glucan, piptamine, and various lanostanoids.
The birch polypore fruiting body possesses antitumor activity. RNA isolated from this fungi induced interferon production and virus protection when injected in mice (Kawecki 1978).
Polyporenic acid is a bacteriostatic triterpenoid with a wide variety of anti-inflammatory activities. In the early stage of burns on rats, it showed greater activity than cortisone. Pre-treatment of rats with polyporenic acid prevented ammonium chloride-induced inflammation of the lungs, whereas cortisone was inactive under these circumstances.
The pentacyclic triterpenes have shown anti-neoplastic effect. Studies in Poland demonstrated that an extract given orally (three grams per day) to female dogs with Sticker’s tumors of the vagina, showed complete remission in five weeks (Utzig and Samborski 1957). Over a half century ago, Wandokanty and Utzig reported the effect of pentacylic triterpenes from the conk on malignant neoplasms. Little follow-up has been done.
Kawagishi et al. (2002) identified a novel hydroquinione with enzyme-inhibiting properties related to the formation of tumors.
Piptamine, a novel antibiotic, has been derived from the polypore (Schlegel et al. 2000). This specific compound shows activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis at rates of only 0.78 micrograms per milliliter and 1.56 micrograms per milliliter respectively. Early work found activity against S. aureus and E. coli (Hervey 1947).
The conk contains ungalinic acids that show resistance to Micrococcus pyogenes (Ying 1992).
Ten species were recently tested against eighteen bacterial strains, and Piptoporus betulinus was the most active (Karaman et al. 2009a).
Work in Germany showed water extracts reduce sarcoma 180 tumors by 49.2 percent. By adding 4 percent sodium hydroxide and ethanol precipitate to a hot-water extract, the rate of inhibition increased to 72 percent.
Betulinic acid and betulin are present in birch bark and concentrated in this polypore, in the same manner as chaga and other fungi on their host tree. Betulinic acid, a pentacyclic triterpene, destroys melanoma cancer cells without affecting healthy cells (Pisha et al. 1995).
Polyporenic acid C has been found able to inhibit the growth of Bacterium racemosum (Ying 1992).
Polyporenic acid B is a mixture of tumulosic acid and dehydrogenated substances, and needs more study.
The compound 1,3-beta-D-glucopyranans is known as schizophyllan in Splitgill (S. commune), and is chemically identical.
When administered to mice intravenously, an extract protected against a lethal infection with tick-borne encephalitis virus strain K5. When tested on mice and monkeys, the polypore was found capable of resisting poliomyelitis (Ying 1992).
In a study by Kandefer-Szerszen et al. (1974) nucleic acids isolated from P. betulinus reduced the number of vaccinia virus plaques in chick embryo fibroblast tissue culture. These nucleic acids were found to induce small but detectable amounts of liver and spleen interferon production.
Kawecki et al. (1978) found crude RNA from this polypore can induce human fibroblasts to produce interferon with a specific activity of 400 units per milligram of protein.
Kanamoto et al. (2001) identified a betulinic acid dubbed YI-FH 312 as a novel anti-HIV compound that blocks virus replication. Paul Stamets has filed a patent on an extract of this polypore’s mycelium against various viral diseases after studies on vaccinia virus and cowpox.
Further study indicates weaker activity against Pichinde virus, an arenavirus, and the West Nile virus associated and spread via mosquitoes.
In one in vivo study, the fungi showed signs of both excitation and later inhibition of neurons. David Moore, in his excellent book Slayers, Saviors, Servants, and Sec: An Exposé of Kingdom Fungi, says, “Piptoporus is known to produce (and accumulate in its fruit bodies) antiseptics and pharmacologically active substances that are claimed to reduce fatigue and soothe the mind.”
In reference to the Ice Man, he continues: “I can imagine that with due ceremony and additional magic, these objects may well have been seen as essential to the traveller in the mountains. The conical one could well be a sort of styptic pencil to be applied to scratches and grazes, and perhaps the flattened, spheroidal one was chewed or sucked on when the going got tough.”
Suay et al. (2000) found strong inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus, S. subtilis, and Bacillus megaterium. Paul Stamets suggests it be trialed against anthrax (B. anthracis).
Wasser and Weis (1999) confirmed antibacterial activity.
Piptamine is an antibiotic produced by the polypore (Schlegel et al. 2000).
C. Keller et al. (2002) found activity against E. coli and Bacillus subtilis.
Wangun et al. (2004) found lanostanoids that exhibit anti-inflammatory and anti-hyaluronate lyase activity. Earlier work by Kamo et al. (2003) isolated various laonstane-type triterpene and polyporenic acids and studied anti-inflammatory activity in mice edema. Previous work by Manez et al. (1997) identified triterpenoids that reduce chronic inflammation of the skin.
A fraction of the dried fruiting body was tested, in vitro, against lung (A549), colorectal (HT29), and rat glioma C6 cancer cell lines. A decreased tumor cell proliferation, motility, and induction of morphological changes was noted, with no or low toxicity to normal cells (Lemieszek et al. 2009).
To sum up, Razor strop possesses antifungal, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and antibacterial activity.
There are several reasons to compare P. betulinus with Carbo vegetabilis from point of view of the Doctrine of Signatures. The fungus is regarded a “weakness parasite” because it attacks birches with decreased resistance. Since its appearance announces the death of its host, this polypore could be dubbed “deathbed fungus.” … The deathlike condition that the fungus represents brings to mind a remedy with a certain reputation for reviving the near-dead: Carbo vegetabilis. [It] is charcoal made of birch. Hahnemann did his provings with birch charcoal. As the residue of birch wood, charcoal has undergone combustion with exclusion of air.
There is still some fire left in charcoal, but not much, it smolders as a slow torch, similar to the Carbo vegetabilis condition. “Op een laag pitje staan,” the Dutch say, which translates as “simmering on a low flame.”
By increasing the oxygen supply the fire will burn higher, which corresponds in the Carbo vegetabilis patient with the improvement by fanning. The similarities with Piptoporus are interesting. Firstly, the species grow exclusively on birch; secondly, employed as tinder, the fungus will slowly but persistently smolder “if placed in a tin with restricted ventilation.”
—VERMEULEN
The hydro-distilled polypore yields an essential oil rich in 1-octen-3-ol (45 percent), and 3-octanol (27 percent), as well as 3-octanone, 1-octanol, (+)-alpha-barbatene, isobazzanene, (S)-daucene, thujopsene, alpha-chamigrene, and traces of linalool, R-trans-nerolidol, methyl anisate, and benzaldehyde (Rosecke et al. 2000).
Birch polypore essence can help protect you. It is good for those who travel. Hug my friend birch tree. Antiviral, immune tonic, and chi regulator.
—SILVERCORD
The fungi were cut into long strips and nailed to wood with the pores uppermost. The surface was hardened with siliceous earth and used by barbers, surgeons, and others for stropping sharp knives. The related Polyporus squamosus was used in a similar manner.
Lumberjacks in the Pacific Northwest made similar strops but did not powder the surface to finish sharpening of saws and axes.
It may be cut into small strips for tinder in survival packs. The polypore smolders very slowly and can be used as a touchwood for transporting fire from one site to another.
The soft, flexible, and protective nature of the polypore makes it ideal for holding obsidian and other stone for flint knapping spearheads, hatchets, knives, and other cutting surfaces.
Pieces have also been used for sweat pads in hats and by Scottish Highlanders as packing for the back of the circular shield or targets.
Fungal cellulase for denim bleaching and removing surplus hydrogen peroxide during cotton bleaching are two examples. Cellulase decolorizes recycled paper by de-inking.
Beekeepers have used smoldering fruit bodies for calming their hives.
Drawing charcoal has even been produced in the past.
It has been used to polish tarnished silver, and is still used in Switzerland to polish metal watches.
This mushroom possesses one of the highest cellulase activities of any fungi, suggesting industrial use. There are a number of applications for cellulase including detergents, textiles, food preparation, and animal feed.
Phytase and cellulase will become more valuable fungal enzymes as the use of antibiotic growth promoters becomes more restricted.
A wide range of cadmium sensitivity was found in agar and liquid cultures of the fungus (Baldrian and Gabriel 2002). The most resistant strains still showed growth at 250 micromoles of cadmium.
P. arrhizus
P. arenarius
Polysaccum pisocarpium
(DEAD MAN’S FOOT)
(BOHEMIAN TRUFFLE)
(DYEMAKER’S PUFFBALL)
(DOG TURD FUNGUS)
Pisolithus is derived from the Greek piso meaning “pea” and lithos meaning “stone.” Tinctorius refers to its use in dyeing.
This is a most unusual fungus. The mature brown, brittle, and dusty mushroom protrudes from the ground like a half-rotted root or ball of dried up dung.
It is found in disturbed soils near trees and shrubs and in old pastures. It has even been known to burst through pavement.
The mushroom has a symbiotic relationship with the rootlets of trees, contributing to their ability to survive in poor soil by helping them to absorb nutrients. This is true of most fungi, but even more so with this species.
The young mushrooms, which resemble puffballs, are known in Europe as Bohemian truffles, and are used when unripe as a flavoring agent.
The puffball is used to relieve swelling and stop bleeding in traditional Chinese medicine.
When applied externally, it stops bleeding from wounds, or watery chilblains, and stops running pus. It staunches esophageal and stomach bleeding when taken internally.
The fungus treats heat in the lungs, coughing, swelling, sore throat, and nose bleeds. The mushroom is used medicinally in Japan, too, where it is known as kotsubutake.
Pisosterol, leucine, tyrosine, urea, ergosterol peroxide, 9(11)-dehydroergosterol, lipids, calvacin, pisolactone, sodium phosphate, 24-methyl-lanosta-8,24(28)-diene-3beta, 22 idiol; and a mixture of (22S,24R)-24-methyllanosta-8-en-22,28-epoxy-3beta, 28 alpha, and 28 beta diol.
(22S,24R)-24-methyllanosta-8-en-22,28-epoxy-3beta, 28 alpha, and 28 beta diol were isolated and found to possess immunosuppressive activity (Fujimoto et al. 1994).
Pisosterol is a triterpene that strongly inhibited the growth of all seven tumor cell lines tested, especially leukemia and melanoma. Results were comparable to those of doxorubicin and etoposide (Montenegro et al. 2004).
Pisosterol induces a monocytic cell-like differentiation of leukemia cell line HL-60, and shows activity against sarcoma 180 cancer cell lines with a 43 percent inhibition rate at ten milligrams per square meter (Montenegro et al. 2007; 2008).
It is a good dye mushroom, yielding gold, yellow, brown, dark blue, or black, depending upon the mordant.
An excellent brown dye is obtained from the spores and traditionally used in the Canary Islands, in Italy, and around Nice, France, for the coloring of silks.
Pisolithus tinctorius (photo credits 1.131)
It could be useful for growing pine on sterilized soil or to help diversify reclamation projects such as the Athabasca Oil Sands in Northern Alberta. It could help re-establish pine trees on old gas and well sites that are barren due to excess salinity or heavy metals.
Hendrix et al. (1985) found pine seedlings transplanted on a coalmine site naturally infected with this ectomycorrhizal fungus were twice the height and stem diameter of those not infected.
Egerton-Waterton and Griffin found aluminum concentrations up to two thousand parts per million did not affect isolates of the mushroom. The aluminum tolerance was achieved, in part, by increases in calcium and magnesium concentration in the mycelia. Thompson and Medve (1984) found one isolate tolerant of aluminum and manganese.
Other work has noted mercury at a concentration of only 0.1 parts per million inhibited mycelial growth. Macrofungi are very mineral specific.
This mushroom has been found to transform TNT after three days of incubation. It shows promise in biotransformation of 1-naphthalene acetic acid.
It is widely used in experiments and sold commercially as a mycorrhizal inoculum for use in research.
Six milligrams of powder dissolved in water, with sugar added, taken twice a day.
Pseudoplectania nigrella
(BLACK CUP FUNGUS)
This round-spored mushroom is found under pine in the boreal forest. Its edibility is unknown, but it does have a unique medicinal constituent.
Plectasin is a defensin peptide found in spiders, scorpions, dragonflies, mussels, oysters, and now fungi. It is suggested that defensins come from a common ancestral gene more than a billion years old. Mygind et al. (2005) found these cysteine-rich peptides active against bacteria, viruses, and other fungi.
Recombinant plectasin can be produced at a very high, commercially viable yield and purity.
In vitro trials indicate activity against Streptococcus pneumoniae, including several strains resistant to conventional antibiotics, and S. pyogenes. These organisms are responsible for diseases such as meningitis, pneumonia, strep throat, sepsis, and flesh-destroying skin infections. The exact mechanism of action is yet unknown, but appears to work in a manner quite different from traditional antibiotics.
Dr. Michael Zasloff says that by “utilizing a new genetic approach that allowed the team to discover plectasin, we now know that a whole class of antibiotics has been overlooked.”
In humans, defensins are made by specific white blood cells and immune cells that later engulf foreign invaders, and by the skin and mucus membranes to kill microbes before they can invade these protective barriers.
“In mouse studies, plectasin showed extremely low toxicity, and was a effective as vanomycin and penicillin in curing the animals of experimental peritonitis and pneumonia caused by S. pneumoniae,” Zasloff continued.
Mice studies showed that ten milligrams per kilogram of weight of intravenous plectasin caused pneumococci levels to fall tenfold in two hours and a thousand-fold after five hours.
It took seventy milligrams per kilogram of weight of subcutaneous vancomycin to produce similar decreases. In mice, the plectasin is excreted without a change in urine.
In another mouse model, strains of S. pneumoniae were introduced intranasally and left untreated for twenty-four hours. Treated animals then received a single dose of plectasin or two doses of penicillin totaling thirty milligrams per kilogram of weight. All the mice were killed the next day, and viable pneumococci in lung tissue were counted and found to be at least one thousand-fold to ten thousand-fold lower in the animals treated with either plectasin or penicillin than in untreated control subjects.
Many antimicrobial peptides bind to cellular membranes and directly perturb membrane function, killing target microbes within seconds or minutes of exposure. The slower killing by plectasin suggests alternative mechanisms of action.
Defensins prevent viruses from entering cells, by preventing the virus from merging to cells’ outer membrane. These membranes are coated with a layer of molecules called glycoproteins, in a manner similar to bristles sticking out of a hairbrush. Using this analogy, as the viral membrane approaches the cell membrane, the bristles part, leaving bare patches, allowing a fusion to take place. Defensins bind crosswise to glycoproteins, preventing them from spreading apart. It’s as if the bristles were bound together by numerous small rubber bands.
Dr. Chernomordik of the National Institutes of Health says that “defensins do not kill the virus, they just prevent it from entering the cell. Viruses that are not allowed to enter the cells can then be destroyed by the cells of the immune system.”
Plectasin can be effectively produced at high yields in a fungal expression system of industrial scale (Jing 2010).
P. populinus
P. pulmonarius
(OYSTER MUSHROOM)
P. porrigens
Pleurotellus porrigens
(ANGEL WINGS)
P. cystioliosus
(ABALONE OYSTER)
P. citrinopileatus
(GOLDEN OYSTER)
The camel is gratefully called the ship of the desert; the oyster mushroom is the shellfish of the forest.
—MCILVAINE
Pleurotus is from the Greek pleur, meaning “formed laterally” or in a “sideways position,” in reference to the lateral orientation of the stem relative to the cap, and tus meaning “ear.” Pulmonarius is from pulmo for “lung,” referring to the mushroom’s texture.
P. ostreatus spores are whitish-gray to lavender, while P. populinus spores are white to slightly gray. Ostreatus refers to the oyster shell-like appearance and color, not the flavor of the mushroom.
The wild fungi are widely dispersed on dead aspen poplar throughout the aspen parkland and southern boreal forests of the Pacific Northwest. The P. ostreatus complex contains three intersterile strains that differ in morphology, growth characteristics, geography, and host range. Some work suggests that the oyster mushroom found on aspen in the western prairies may be properly called P. populinus, while the species found on conifers in Pacific Northwest may be P. pulmonarius. Whether they are distinct species or subspecies may require DNA analysis to determine.
In the fall of 1988, a Sicilian farmer collected an oyster mushroom nearly eight feet in circumference, twenty inches thick, and weighing forty-two pounds. What a productive strain this would have been, if the farmer had been a cultivator and not just a mushroom hunter!
On a mushroom forage in June 2001, I found my first wild oyster mushrooms. The multiple clumps were huge and tasty, but a little too wormy for my wife’s liking. Oh well. Just more for me! Oyster mushroom is widely available as a fresh product in grocery stores. I recently purchased toasted oyster mushroom snacks, flavored with sugar and seaweed, in an Asian food store. They are a cultivated taste!
Nematodes or eelworms enjoy oyster mushrooms, but the mushroom has found a way to defend itself. The mycelia excrete a substance that numbs the worms, and once knocked out, the fungal hyphae lasso or envelop them to absorb nutrients. This source of nitrogen is essential to allow fruiting to take place. The active toxin is trans-2-decenediotic acid (Kwok et al. 1992).
Tricholomic acid is also present in the mushroom and may also immobilize nematodes, due to insecticidal activity.
Nematodes are the most abundant animals on earth, comprising 80 percent of all living creatures! In his book The Third Domain, Tim Friend writes, “If you were to make all of the solid matter on the surface of Earth invisible except for the nematode worms, you still could see its outline in nematode worms. About sixteen thousand species are known to science; the number estimated actually to exist by specialists is over 1.5 million. Almost certainly the world’s ecosystems and our own lives depend on these little creatures, but we know absolutely nothing about the vast majority.”
Submerged cultures of P. pulmonarius were studied and found to contain a number of nematicidal compounds, including S-coriolic acid, linoleic acid, p-anisaldehyde and p-anisyl alcohol (Stadler et al. 1994).
Nutritionally speaking, the oyster mushroom falls between a high-grade vegetable and low-grade meat when considered for biological value, including essential amino acids and nutritional index.
The related angel wings that grows on dead conifers contains eleostearic acid. It is known in Japan as sugihiratake, and considered by some to be as tasty as the oyster mushroom.
I would avoid it, as reports from Japan suggest it has caused hemolysis in kidney disease patients.
The related golden oyster mushroom (P. citrinopileatus) is Asian, but can be cultivated under controlled conditions. It is very fragile, and quickly loses its bright yellow luster, according to expert Paul Stamets.
The abalone mushroom (P. cystidiosus) is sometimes found growing on Cottonwood. Known in Japan as tamogitake, it is a dense, upright, ridged mushroom with depressed caps.
Oyster mushroom contains eight essential amino acids in significant amounts; thiamin; riboflavin; folic acid; sterols, including D2 and D4; gamma ergosterol; lovastatin; pigments; carotenoids; bioflavonoid complex; fatty acids; various polyhydroxysteroids; mevinolin; tricholomic acid; trihydroxy-ketones; tetrahydroxy-ketones; tetraol; epidioxide; cerevisterol; and triol. Ergosterol content is from 0.124 to 0.469 percent.
Copper and zinc levels are higher than in other cultivated mushrooms. Even when straw substrate, low in zinc, was used, the zinc content of the mushroom was proportionally high. Oyster mushroom is made up of 27 percent protein, 38 percent complex carbohydrates, and only 1 percent fat. It contains twelve milligrams of vitamin C per hundred grams, as well as high levels of potassium (2,700 milligrams), niacin (fifty-four milligrams), and iron (nine milligrams) per hundred grams fresh weight.
Reports of non-starch polysaccharides from mushroom sclerotia are rare, but this mushroom includes beta-d-glycans, heteroglycans, and polysaccharide protein complexes.
Oyster mushroom is used medicinally as a nerve tonic, and to help reduce cholesterol levels.
In traditional Chinese medicine, the sporophore is dried and added to Tendon Easing Powder.
The mushrooms contain the toxin pleurotolysin that have caused hemolysis in various lab animals.
According to Spoerke and Rumack, the composition of pleurotolysin is closer to the bee venom melittin or the Staphylococcus delta toxin than other mushroom lytics. The hemolysis induced by this compound is inhibited by liposomes from cholesterol.
Acetone extracts yield water-soluble constituents with high polarity that possess analgesic activity. The pathway is via opioid receptor mediation.
The inhibition rate of water extracts of the sporophore lectin against sarcoma 180 is 88 percent, and hepatoma H-22 is 75.4 percent (Wang, H. et al. 2000).
An antitumor glucan (HA beta-glucan) has been isolated from the neutral polysaccharide fraction (A3) of a hot-water extract (Yoshioka et al. 1985). The glucan shows marked antitumor activity at a dose of 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of body weight. It is a highly branched 1,3 beta-glucan type.
Alcohol extracts of the mycelium possess a high level of antioxidant activity.
Gunde-Cimerman et al. (1995) found Pleurotus fruiting bodies contain lovastatin, the inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-Coenzyme A Reductase.
The extracts stimulated the activity of SOD (superoxide dimutase), catalase, and glutathione peroxidase; and decreased VLDL (very low density lipoprotein) cholesterol levels.
Lovastatin is a well-known pharmacological agent, approved in 1987 for treating high cholesterol. High levels have been found in oyster mushrooms. During the growth of the fruiting body, the constituent is first transferred to the pileus and later the lamellae. Nonetheless, it is fully present in non-sporing mushrooms, and can easily be added to the diet of patients with cardiovascular risk. Lovastatin-like compounds are higher in caps than stems, and more concentrated on mature gills.
Lovastatin has been found effective in reducing and preventing inflammation associated with pancreatitis and stopping progression toward fibrogenesis (Talukar et al. 2007).
Earlier studies on rats by Bobek et al. (1993) showed that the addition of 2 to 4 percent oyster mushrooms to the hyperlipidemic diet efficiently prevented accumulation of cholesterol. Further work by the same author found a 25 percent decrease in liver compared to control, and a 50 percent plasma cholesterol turnover (Bobek et al. 1995).
Above and below:
Pleurotus populinus.
Right: Oyster spawn plugs.
Rabbit studies are known to be more accurate indicators of human physiology when it comes to cholesterol issues. Bobek and Galbavy (1999) conducted a rabbit study and found that oyster mushroom lowered serum cholesterol levels and exhibited atherogenic effect.
Mevinolin, a fat-lowering medicinal component, has been detected in the fruiting body, as well.
Plovastin is a standardized extract developed at the University of Haifa in Israel. It contains biologically active statins, which are known inhibitors of cholesterol metabolism in the human body.
The statin drugs, such as Zocor, Lipitor, and Mevacor, are contraindicated in alcoholism, pregnancy, and liver disease, but not so the oyster mushroom.
In the human intestine, the chitin of the hyphal cell wall of mushrooms is changed to chitosan, which helps bind bile salts and influence the absorption of fats.
H. Wang and T. B. Ng (2000) recently isolated a novel ubiquitin-like protein from the mushroom that exhibited anti-HIV or human immunodeficiency virus inhibitory effects. It appears to govern viral cell division.
A clinical trial at San Francisco General Hospital looked at the short-term safety and potential efficacy of oyster mushroom to treat HIV patients with hyperlipidemia who were also taking the protease-inhibitor Kaletra. One issue with these antivirals is that they interfere with lipid metabolism in the liver, which leads to elevated LDL cholesterol levels and increased cardiovascular risk. It may prove that oyster mushrooms are a good adjunct to HIV therapy.
Laccase enzymes from the oyster mushroom inhibit hepatitis C virus from penetrating into peripheral blood and hepatoma cells, at least in the laboratory.
The phospholipids in oyster mushrooms are of interest. Of the seven different components, phosphatidylethanolamines, choline, and phosphatidyl-serine compose the majority. These are all useful in the treatment of myelin sheath and nerve related disease.
Gerasimenya et al. (2001) found submerged mycelium of oyster mushrooms most effective against Aspergillis niger, an extremely aggressive mold. It can cause aspergillosis lung disease that severely threatens those with immune deficiency.
Oyster mushrooms were tested against a number of microbes. When exposed to low-intensity laser light the antibiotic activity of Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus mycoides was increased by 10 to 20 percent (Poyedinok et al. 2005).
Sherbinin et al. (1999) found the dried mushroom powder possesses antacid properties, suggesting another functional food application.
Mei Zhang et al. (2001) showed extracts of the mushroom possess antitumor activity. Based on both in vitro and in vivo experiments, it is suggested that the antitumor activity is host-mediated and cytocidal. Early work by Ying (1987) found mice tagged with sarcoma 180 and fed a diet made up of 20 percent oyster mushrooms showed a 60 percent inhibition of tumor development after one month compared to the control group.
Zusman et al. conducted research that indicates corn cobs treated with oyster mushrooms may help fight colon cancer. The mushrooms break down the lignins, making the dietary fiber easier to absorb by up to 78 percent (Zusman et al. 1997).
Rats fed an oyster mushroom-treated corncob diet had half as many tumors as those in a control group, and only 17 percent of the tumors were malignant. Tumor-associated protein levels were lower than the control group’s and levels of the tumor-suppressing gene p53 were significantly increased. The researchers found the diet decreased the tumors’ ability to repair its own DNA, and concluded that the fiber produced may be helpful to humans.
A water-soluble extract of the fresh oyster mushroom showed significant cytotoxicity and apoptosis on human androgen-independent prostate cancer PC-3 cell lines (Gu, Y. H. and G. Sivam 2006). Temperatures over eighty degrees Celsius for two hours eliminated the bioactivity, but at forty degrees Celsius it remained stable.
Fruiting bodies inhibit aromatase activity, similar to button mushrooms, with potential for the treatment of hormone-sensitive cancers (Grube et al. 2001).
Lavi et al. (2006) found alpha-glucans extracted by water possess anti-proliferative and apoptosis on colon cancer cells.
Crude mushroom extracts inhibit the proliferation and differentiation of human leukemia cells K562 (Yassin and Mahajna 2003).
Jose et al. (2002) found P. pulmonarius to exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antitumor activity. Methanol extracts were comparable to the drug diclofenac in their effect, probably due to antioxidant activity.
Glyceride fractions inhibit COX-2 enzymes and lipid peroxidation by 92 percent at only twenty-five micrograms per milliliter (Diyabalanage et al. 2009).
The fruiting body of this mushroom has been found synergistic with glyburide in the treatment of diabetes (Badole et al. 2007).
Oyster mushroom is commercially available as a medicine for reducing cholesterol and as a nerve tonic, but not as yet for antitumor, antiviral, or antibacterial activity.
Water extracts of P. pulmonarius show increased glucose tolerance in both normal and diabetic mice, suggesting hypoglycemic activity (Badole et al. 2006).
Approximately 10 percent of North Americans and Europeans show an allergenic response to oyster mushrooms. A study of 701 patients indicates a need for testing before therapeutic application to individual patients (Horner et al. 1993).
Yatsuzuka et al. (2007) found P. pulmonarius extracts do not inhibit or increase IgE, and may be helpful in allergic rhinitis through inhibition of histamine release.
The linked beta-glucans show relief of acute and neuropathic pain through inhibition of inotrophic glutamate receptors and interleukin-1beta pathways (Baggio et al. 2010).
Mice fed extracts of golden oyster mushrooms showed a decrease in tumor size and increased longevity. Dr. Minoru Terazawa from Hokkaido University identified mannitol, a sugar alcohol, as the anti-hypertensive agent in this species.
The related P. passeckerianus and P. mutilis contain anti-carcinogenic and antiviral agents active against influenza.
Oral administration of Remasan, a standardized product made up of nearly two-thirds dried oyster mushroom powder, was found in a Finnish study to cause warts to disappear, and to prevent their reappearance. It is claimed to regulate diabetes and reduce joint pain and growing pains in children.
The related P. cornucopiae shows inhibition against sarcoma 180 of 80 percent and Ehrlich carcinoma of 70 percent. It contains tamavidin 1 and 2. These are biotin-binding proteins usually found in birds and bacteria (Takakura et al. 2009).
One intriguing study identified porrinenic acid from angel wings that showed cytotoxicity to human melanoma THP-1 cell lines.
Activity against sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich carcinoma cancer cell lines is 100 percent and 90 percent respectively for oyster mushrooms (Ohtsuka et al. 1973).
Oyster mushrooms decompose wood but can also be used to degrade environmental pollutants in both soil and liquid effluent. This includes wastewater from the pulp and paper industry, as well as pesticide-contaminated wastes like chlorinated biphenyls, aromatic hydrocarbons, dieldrin, and the fungicide benomyl. It is not just a matter of degradation but also mineralization of the pollutant, so that it returns to the air and soil as carbon dioxide, ammonia, chloride, and water.
Mycoremediation depends on the number of benzene rings in the structure of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
Oyster mushroom is effective in mycoremediation of nasty, toxic, cancer-inducing chemicals like PCP, widely used as a wood preservative. Spent mushroom substrates, available after the harvest of crops, absorb, immobilize, and concentrate PCP so that it can be transported from contaminated sites. More important, perhaps, is that it begins to digest the PCP completely.
Ruttimann-Johnson and Lamar (1997) showed it the most efficient (65 percent) in binding to all three fractions of humic materials, followed by Irpex lacteus, T. versicolor, and Bjerkandera adusta.
Law et al. (2003) found the spent mushroom compost from P. pulmonarius degrades naphthalene, phenanthrene, and benzopyrene, suggesting a use in mycoremediation.
It degrades atrazine during solid-state fermentation on wheat straw (Masaphy et al. 1996).
On November 7, 2007, the oil tanker Cosco Busan leaked fifty-eight thousand gallons of bunker crude into San Francisco Bay. A group called Matter of Trust laid out isolated squares of saturated soil and inoculated the areas with oyster mushroom mycelium. Several months later the petrochemicals were significantly diminished and the mushrooms that fruited were free of toxins.
Yateem et al. (1998) showed the ability to degrade oil in contaminated soil.
Oyster mushrooms concentrate cadmium and other heavy metals from effluent, due to the fungal wall. The mushroom has evolved over time to accumulate metal ions that it might need for nutrition. It is a chemically reversible binding reaction, so that fungi can take metal from its walls in exchange for a hydrogen ion. Polluting metals can be removed by passing the effluent through a column of fungal material.
Mercury, for example can be concentrated up to 140 times in mushroom substrates (Bressa et al. 1988).
Precious metals, such as silver from photographic processes and gold from electronic chips, can also be recovered. The simple treatment of the fungi with sodium bicarbonate removes the metals, and the process starts all over again. No large-scale industrial applications are yet operating.
Jauregui et al. (2003) found P. ostreatus transforms a variety of organophosphorus pesticides. Their study suggests that some intracellular origin of the transformation activity takes place, rather than simply being an enzymatic effect. Sesek et al. tested oyster mushrooms on two industrial sites contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The fungus degraded fluorine 41 to 67 percent, phenanthrene 24 to 42 percent, anthracene 29 to 49 percent, fluoranthene 29 to 57 percent, pyrene 24 to 42 percent, chrysene 0 to 42 percent, and benzoanthracene 0 to 13 percent at the two sites respectively (Sasek et al. 2000).
P. ostreatus, P. pulmonarius, and P. citrinopileatus have been found to be able to decolorize a commercial blue dye, suggesting mycofiltration of effluents containing this dye.
The related P. eryngii sometimes attacks the endophyte Gliocladium roseum (Chen, J. T. and J. W. Huang 2004).
Work by Gary Strobel and others found a strain of this fungus in Patagonia that breaks down cellulose and synthesizes liquid fuel. The volatiles are dubbed myco-diesel, due to their resemblance to components of crude oil. Patents are pending.
Paul Stamets, whose work I greatly admire, has this to say:
If one mushroom can steer the world on the path to greater sustainability, fighting hunger, increasing nutrient return pathways in ecosystems, destroying toxic wastes, forestalling disease, and helping communities integrate a complexity of waste streams, oysters stand out.… Oyster mushrooms are well positioned to lead the way for rebalancing vast waste streams that currently overload our ecosystems.
High concentrations of sphingo-glycolipids (vegetal ceramides), according to Dr. Yasuyuki Igarashi, lend themselves to skin moisturizing and protection, suggesting a cosmetic application.
The mycelium is used to create organic insulation, suitable for housing. Panels are filled with buckwheat or rice husks, natural silica, hydrogen peroxide, water, and inoculants. After ten to fourteen days, the mycelium, at rate of eight miles of strands per cubic inch, fills the entire panel, which is then oven-dried for completion. Greensulate, developed by Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre of Ecovative Design, is comparable to polystyrene but uses ten times less energy and eight times less carbon dioxide to produce. Very exciting!
The conversion of alpha pinene by basidiomycetes for flavor and fragrance compounds has huge potential due to the wood waste associated with pulp and paper, and the lumber industry in general.
Oyster essence is a transporter that changes and brings into action spiritual ideas, grounding them into matter. It provides trust, safety, and joy. Good for circulation of blood, tumors of the throat, and muscle tension.
—SILVERCORD
Work by Tudor (1998) found that substrates based on waste from hemp and flax plants, amended with 6 percent calcium carbonate and incubated at fifteen to twenty-five degrees Celsius (fifty-nine to seventy-seven degrees Fahrenheit), worked as well as a combination made up of 80 percent corn husks and 20 percent straw.
The waste from dill processing produced high quality oyster mushroom fruiting bodies, another value added possibility for farm producers.
In various studies, wheat straw has been found to be a suitable substrate for oyster mushroom production. It is often produced in vertical containers, like a tree, with a number of holes optimally distributed.
The spent mushroom compost is high in laccase at 1,452 nanokatals per gram (Ko, H. G. et al. 2005b).
Mycelial growth was best in a mixture of 0.5 percent yeast and 0.5 percent glucose in distilled water. Cheese whey also worked well.
They may be harvested in the wild, and encouraged by spreading mycelium; or you can take an inoculated log section and set it in your backyard or basement for a more long term harvest. It is one of the easiest mushrooms to grow, using substrates from paper, straw, wood, and other spent materials. Inoculated poplar stumps produce, on average, more than one pound annually for more than three years. Work by Pagony published in 1973 found that of two hundred poplar stumps averaging six to twelve inches in diameter, inoculated in spring, all were fruiting by the fall of following year. Each and every one!
Recent work has shown that the cultivation of oyster mushrooms on spent barley grain husks left over from beer production is quite feasible. The spent grains that were larger than one millimeter were found to be the best. And after cultivation, the substrate can be used for mycofiltration or mycoremediation, really adding value to the grain.
Using nitrogen as a medium maximizes the lovastatin production in the oyster mushroom. Mannitol is the best carbon source for both this mushroom and Phlebia radiata.
Mycelium grown on wheat straw- and wheat germ-based substrates work well.
Mikiashvili and Isikhuemhen (2009) found 10 percent solid waste from poultry on wheat straw, 10 percent millet, and 80 percent wheat straw produced the optimal yield of fruiting bodies.
Oyster mushroom can be grown on poplar wood waste and, when supplemented with a low concentration of dextrose, will form fruiting bodies within three to eight weeks. The contribution of 3-0-octyl and 3-0-decyl-D-glucose was found to stimulate oyster mushroom fruiting.
Oysters can be grown on “old” growth systems previously used for commercial button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) (Danai et al. 2008).
Ostreolysin, a cytolytic protein, strongly induces the formation of primordia and its development into a fruiting body (Berne et al. 2007).
Muller et al. (1986) found oyster mushroom (P. florida) helped delignification of straw and helped it ferment anaerobically to biogas with a fruit yield nearly double.
Grape pomace and vineyard prunings also make an excellent substrate for mushroom propagation. Vineyards may wish to look at the related economic spinoff from essentially a waste product with low nutritional value. Many vineyards have tasting rooms and restaurants that could take advantage of another agri-tourism/fine dining opportunity by growing and serving oyster mushrooms. Slightly charred, they go well with balsamic vinegar in salads, or with cardamom and leeks in soup. Wine-pickled oyster mushrooms—say a cup of dry white wine, two cups white wine vinegar, and a pound of oyster mushrooms, along with some spices—would make a good condiment for a high-end restaurant. Bill Jones, author of The Savoury Mushroom and a food consultant on Vancouver Island, has expertise on wild mushrooms and edibles for the hospitality industry.
The straw of both astragalus (A. membranaceus) and Job’s tears (Coix lacryma-jobi) work as efficient substrates for oyster mushroom production.
The dried powder can be added to just about anything, from smoothies to breads. Take three to nine grams per day. The benefit is not reduced by heat, so baking and cooking are fine.
P. cervinus
(DEER MUSHROOM)
(FAWN PLUTEUS)
Pluteus is from the Latin meaning “bracket,” “shed,” or “shield.” Atricapillus means “dark hair,” while cervinus means “deer.”
There are a number of species of pink-spored deer mushrooms in the northern boreal forest, usually found on decaying birch and poplar logs.
The blue-staining willow Pluteus, or P. salicinus, and P. nigroviridis (black-green) contain up to 1.57 percent psilocybin, and psilocin as well as small amounts of the biogenetic precursor bacocystin and tryptophan. These mushrooms can be considered hallucinogenic, due to their psilocybin content.
The deer mushroom (P. atricapillus) has a radish odor that disappears with cooking. It also contains psilocybin, as does the related P. glaucus.
(FALSE SHAGGY MANE)
(DESERT SHAGGY MANE)
(ABORIGINAL PAINTBRUSH)
Podaxis is Greek meaning “strong foot.” Pistillaris means “like a pestle.”
This mushroom is found in dry, desert regions of the world. They are found as far north as Kamloops and in the hot, dry valleys of the Canadian Rockies.
Like the common name suggests, it looks a lot like shaggy mane (Coprinus species), but with a tough stalk. It does not digest itself at maturity like the shaggy mane. It is highly prized in India for edibility. It contains 21 percent protein.
In China, the mushroom is used to staunch wounds and aid in detoxification.
In both Afghanistan and South Africa, the mushroom was used traditionally to heal cancerous sores, and to relieve sunburn. It is used for diaper rash of babies in Yemen.
The antimicrobial activity is due to epicorazines, belonging to an important group of active fungal metabolites known as epiolythiopiperazine-2,5-diones. More research would be welcomed.
The fungus appears to exhibit antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus flavus, Bacillus subtilis, Proteus mirabilis, Serratia marcescens, and Escherichia coli. Epicorazine A-C have been identified and assumed responsible for the antibacterial activity (Al-Fatimi, et al. 2006).
Work by Dr. Jiskani at the Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, found that the spores of mature mushrooms could be directly sown in soil, and watered twice daily. A crop appears within thirty days, suggesting a desert crop possibility.
In Australia, the purple spores have been used for body paint and to darken the white hair of old men’s whiskers.
It may have been burned as a fly repellant.
(SOFT LEATHER PILLOW)
Podostroma is from the Greek meaning “pillow on a base.” Alutaceum is Latin for “like fine leather.”
This is a relatively rare member of the order Sphaeriales. It looks like a puffball or Spathularia species but is not.
The related P. yunnanensis is dried and ground into a powder for external wounds and bleeding.
(BLUE CHANTERELLE)
(BLACK CHANTERELLE)
(MAGPIE MUSHROOM)
This beautiful mushroom looks at first glance like a deep violet Craterellus, but the caps are spoon or fan shaped, rather than trumpet-like. It is found under spruce and fir in the Montane region of the Rocky Mountains and throughout North America.
Edible and delicious, it has a decidedly earthy smell and taste when dried.
Polyozellin and kynapcin-12.
Polyozellin enhanced quionone reductase, glutathione S-transferase activity and glutathione content in a dose dependent manner. These compounds quench free radical damage.
Polyozellin also promotes differentiation of HL-60 human leukemia cells and should be studied further for potential in preventing cancer (Kim, Jeong Hyun et al. 2004).
The water extract is chemoprotective of gastric cancer cells by increasing glutathione and SOD as well as p53 tumor suppressor gene (Lee, I. S. and Nishikawa 2003).
Both compounds inhibit PEP (prolyl endopeptidase), which is implicated in memory loss and senile dementia (Lee, H. J. et al. 2000).
Melanopus elegans
(BLACK FOOT)
(ELEGANT POLYPORE)
P. squamosus
Melanopus squamosus
(DRYAD’S SADDLE)
(PHEASANT’S BACK POLYPORE)
(THE SCALY POLYPORE)
P. badius
Royoporus badius
P. picipes
P. durus
Melanopus picipes
(BAY BROWN POLYPORE)
(PITCH COLORED POLYPORE)
P. alveolaris
P. mori
Favolus alveolaris
Favolus canadensis
(FRINGED POLYPORE)
(SPRING POLYPORE)
Polyporus badius
Polyporus means “many pores” and was the genus to which all bracket fungi were once assigned. Elegans means “elegant” and squamosus means “scaly.” Squamosus is from squama, meaning “a scale.” Badius means “bay-brown; and picipes means “pitch foot.”
Black foot is widespread and common on poplar, alder, and willow. It is recognized by its tan-white cap and distinctive black foot.
Bay brown polypore (P. badius) is a kidney-shaped bracket fungus common to poplar and other hardwood trees in the Pacific Northwest.
Polyporus croceus has a narcissus fragrance while P. obtusus is more jasmine-like in scent.
Fringed or spring polypore is commonly found on decayed aspen poplar throughout the region. The honey color and large angular spore openings make identification easy.
The related dryad’s saddle (P. squamosus) is said to be edible when young, and with good honey-like flavor.
Nicholas P. Money, in his delightful Mr. Bloomfield’s Orchard, recalls his attempt to make a saffron-flavored dryad’s saddle stew for some colleagues:
The fresh fruiting bodies emitted a strong perfume, akin to the smell of a very cheap cologne. This didn’t bode well, but I reasoned that the threads of saffron would dominate the final flavor.
But as the broth simmered, the scent from the brackets intensified until it matched the pungency of a disinfectant used in a slaughterhouse. Removing the lid of the casserole when my guests arrived, I forced a mouthful down and attempted a feeble smile. Everyone was horrified. I remain revolted by dryad’s saddles and never touch them in the woods. Even the scent they leave on my hands is sufficient to provoke stomach contractions.
To me, it has a cucumber-like odor, and may be better in a cold salad, after steaming.
David Spahr, in his wonderful book on mushrooms of New England, suggests the odor is like watermelon rind.
Use young specimens only and cook them immediately for best results. Spahr suggests sautéing thin slices hard and fast, as overcooking will make them tough. Spahr also suggests drying them into white, crunchy chips.
In Asia, where bitter flavors and chewy textures are more popular in wild mushrooms, dryad’s saddle is prized.
The polypore is valued in traditional Chinese medicine for dispelling endogenous wind and cold, stimulating blood circulation, and easing pain in tendons. It is one of the many ingredients in Tendon Easing Powder.
P. mori: Isodrimenediol, drimenediol, and related sesquiterpenes isocryptoporic acids H-I.
One study found dryad’s saddle to possess cholagogue and choleretic activity in laboratory animals. Cholagogues stimulate gallbladder contraction, and choleretics help aid excretion of bile by the liver, both activities helping promote bile flow that aids breakdown of fatty acids and ensures antiseptic and healthy bowel function.
Lectins from this species may be a useful tool for histochemical detection of 12,6-linked NeuAc5 in asparagines linked oligosaccharides.
Extracts from the fruiting body of bay brown polypore inhibit binding of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from gram-negative bacteria to the CD14 receptor on immune cells. The binding of LPS is part of the septic shock syndrome that releases a cascade of inflammatory mediators and reactive oxygen species leading, in some cases, to death (Koch et al. 2002). Trametes versicolor, Piptoporus betulinus, and Heterobasidion annosum also exhibit this property.
Many polyporus species contain ergosta-4-6-8 (14), 22-tetraen-3-one, a compound found to possessing anti-aldosteronic diuretic properties, suggesting a role in urinary and prostatic complication in elderly males, as well as PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome, also known as Stein-Leventhal syndrome) in women.
Fleck et al. (1996) identified isodrimenediol, drimenediol, and related sesquiterpenes, called isocryptoporic acids H-I in fringed polypore. The latter are isomers of cryptoporic acids with drimenol instead of albicanol as the terpenoid fragment (Cabrera et al. 2002).
Both water and organic fractions from extracts of the mycelium show activity against E. coli, Salmonella typhimurium Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus subtilis.
Cultured mycelium extracts inhibit sarcoma 180 in mice by 80 percent, and fruiting body extracts inhibit sarcoma 180 by 72 percent and Ehrlich carcinoma cells by 60 percent (Shibata, S. et al. 1968).
The spring polypore (P. mori) is high in amylase and lipase activity.
Boletus tuberaster
(STONE FUNGUS)
You must grow like a tree not like a mushroom.
—JANET STUART
Tuckahoes are black, tuber-like structures that are white and translucent inside when dried. The term tuckahoe or tockawhoughe is a native North American name used for several edible bulbs and tubers, such as wake robin or other Trillium species. Tuberaster means “like a truffle,” referring to its underground sclerotium.
Theophrastus, a pupil of Aristotle, was the first ancient Greek to mention the stone fungus.
“In the sea around the Pillars of Hercules, fungi are produced close to the sea, which people say have been turned into stone by the sun.” Many scholars believe he was referring instead to coral’s calcareous plates, which resemble fungi.
Polyporus tuberaster
In early Roman times, the fungus stones were prized and traded under the name lapideus. This continued into the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Early mycologists, such as Mattioli, referred to the sclerotium as lapis lyncuris, meaning “the fossilized feces of lynx.”
Another name, fossil pemmican, from the Cree pimikkan, may be derived from the thought that it was a petrified food.
Stone fungus is common to the mixed aspen woods of western North America. They are of a hard, rubbery texture when fresh, but dry out to the hardness of stone. They are referred to as Indian bread, and, at one time, were mistaken for fossilized pemmican.
Tuckahoe is a large, black sclerotium, or a resting stage for a fruiting body. It is usually found at the base of conifers or birch in our region.
The external surface is usually marked with lines or ridges. When cut in half the internal mass has grains of sand and even, encased small stones.
Below the black crust the interior of fresh tuckahoe is olive green. When older and dried, the interior looks marbled gray and white.
The mushrooms that grow above ground, either planted or wild, vary from two to six inches in diameter and height.
They can be found up to several feet below the surface and are usually the size of a clenched fist, but some specimens as large as four and a half kilograms (about ten pounds) have been found and described.
The scent has been described as floral, fruity, and cinnamon-like.
When an old dried specimen is soaked in water, it absorbs up to 50 percent of its weight, but is still too tough to chew. If boiled, it becomes slightly softer, but hardly edible.
When fresh, the sclerotium is moist and easily cut. It contains pectin, and has been used as an arrowroot substitute after boiling.
Eastern Canadian tribes used the root for food, while the Cree used it for poultices and rheumatism. Various native groups used the underground tuber as a poultice for treating rheumatism. It is called medicin de terre, or “ground medicine” by the Cree or Métis of my area.
In Italy, the underground tuber, or sclerotium, is placed in a flowerpot of earth and watered to produce the edible fruit. There it is known as pietra fungaia, meaning “mushroom or fungus stone.”
The fruiting tops are used medicinally in both Italy and China for treating fevers and a variety of eruptive diseases.
Christopher Hobbs notes the fungus is considered in traditional Chinese medicine to be sweet and bland, with mild energy that affects the heart, spleen, and lung meridians.
Work by Ayer et al. (1992) at the University of Alberta investigated metabolites in the sclerotium. They found a ten-membered unsaturated lactone and tuckolide, as well as erogsterols, ergosterol peroxide, an unidentified disaccharide, and triacetyl tuckolide.
A compound of similar constitution to tuckolide, isolated from a fermentation culture of Penicillium, has been reported in the patent literature.
Tuckolide potently inhibits cholesterol biosynthesis. One group of researchers have identified and synthesized the compound. They found the configuration comparable to the lactone portion of the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor compactin.
Polyporus tuberaster contains various volatiles, with benzaldehyde accounting for 61 percent. Another aromatic compound is 3-methyl-1-butanol.
When l-phenylalanine is added to the medium of cultivation, both benzaldehyde and benzyl alcohol increased in yield.
Kawabe and Morita (1994) showed that P. tuberaster can produce benzaldehyde and benzyl alcohol in high yield from L-phenylalanine, under cultivation. This has commercial potential.
In a sensory evaluation of 117 mushrooms by ten sniffing panelists, P. tuberaster was the most highly rated. The strain has a fruity and floral odor suitable for beverage or perfume work.
The related P. mylittae from Australia has a number of chemicals that apply to cosmetic and haircare formulation. It was used traditionally for dandruff and hair preparations, and contains salicylic acid and organic sulphur compounds, which give keralytic and antifungal effect respectively. Volatile oils stimulate the scalp and organic acids that are astringent provide additional support.
Nine to sixteen grams in decoction three times per day.
(see Grifola umbellatus)
Both of these polypores are identified by their resupinate appearance, with a layer of tubes on sitka spruce, douglas fir, and redwoods further south. Resupinate means they lack caps and stems and lie on dead logs. They are brown rot decayers.
Mlinaric et al. (2005) found P. monticola showed 86.1 percent inhibition of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase.
The related P. vaillantii, found on the same species of trees, showed a moderate activity of 53 to 68 percent.
(SUBURBAN PSATHYRELLA)
(CRUMBLE TUFT)
P. velutina
P. lacrymabunda
Lacrymaria velutina
L. lacrymabunda
Hypholoma velutina
(VELVET PSATHYRELLA)
(WEEPING WIDOW)
P. spadicea
P. sarcocephala
(DATE-COLORED PSATHYRELLA)
Psathyrella is from the Greek meaning either “fragile” or “straw-like.” Candolleana is named after A. P. de Candolle, a French mycologist of the early 1800s. Spadicea/spadiceo is from the Latin meaning “the color of fresh dates.”
Suburban Psathyrella has worldwide distribution, occurring in yards among dead grass and on old tree stumps. It is said to be edible, and does possess a delicate mushroom odor.
Velvet Psathyrella, or weeping widow, is found on lawns and is edible. It may not look tasty, but its firm flesh is prized by many mycophiles. It should be picked before the spores mature.
Koike determined that P. candolleana contains psilocybin. Ohenoja later identified psilocin.
Research found crumble tuft to possess activity against gram-positive bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, B. subtilis, and Salmonella typhi, as well as the fungus Candida albicans. Coletto et al. (1981) found P. spadiceo-grisea exhibits activity against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, and E. coli.
Crumble tuft shows hypoglycemic activity.
Inhibition rates against sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich carcinoma are 70 percent and 80 percent respectively (Ohtsuka et al. 1973).
The related P. gracilis shows inhibition against sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich carcinoma of 60 percent (Ohtsuka et al. 1973).
A recent discovery of the first gilled underwater mushroom was made in Oregon, by Robert Coffan. It has been named Psathyrella aquatic. One unusual feature is the formation of gas bubbles on the cap.
Psilocybe coprophila
Stropharia coprophila
(ROUND DUNG MUSHROOM)
S. merdaria
P. merdaria
(DUNG MUSHROOM)
P. coronilla
S. coronilla
(GARLAND STROPHARIA)
S. semiglobata
S. semiglobata var. stercoraria
P. semiglobata
(HEMISPHERICAL STROPHARIA)
(ROUND DUNG HEAD)
P. semilanceata
Panaeolus similanceata
(LIBERTY CAP)
(PIXIE CAP)
Psilocybe aeruginosa
Pratella aeruginosa
(BLUE GREEN STROPHARIA)
(VERDIGRIS TOADSTOOL)
P. cubensis
S. cubensis
(MAGIC MUSHROOM)
S. cyanescens
(POTENT PSILOCYBE)
P. caerulescens
(LANDSLIDE MUSHROOM)
The little mushroom comes of itself, no one knows whence, like the wind that comes we know not whence nor why.
—MAZATEC SAYING
In my experience, psychedelic mushrooms, such as Psilocybe semilanceata … have the potential, if used carefully with knowledge and awareness, to be useful for developing sensitivity to the cycles of nature, to learn how we can be in harmony with its processes.
—CHRISTOPHER HOBBS
Let us cheer for dung fungi!
Dung fungi—unsung fungi!
Never-touch-the-tongue-fungi!
High-strung, ever-young fungi!
Freely flung across the dung
Freshly sprung with ho so gung!
Stench a song so plainly sung!
—R.C. SUMMERBELL, MYCELIUM, APRIL 1983
Psilocybe is from the Greek meaning “bare head.” Coprophila means “dung loving.” Merdaria is from the Latin, also pertaining to dung.
Stercoraria is derived from the minor Roman god Stercutus, the son of Faunus and the patron of manure. Liberty cap is derived from the emblem worn by the figure of Liberté during and after the French Revolution. It was originally associated with the Phrygian bonnet.
The mushrooms are widespread and common, often found growing on manure.
Round dung is one of the few Psilocybes on the Great Plains east of the Rockies. It contains low amounts of psilocybin, but no psilocin when fresh.
Liberty cap is the most common West Coast “magic mushroom,” and fruits during the rains of autumn.
Dung mushroom is believed to contained small amounts of hallucinogenic compounds by some authors. Paul Stamets suggests both are non-psilocybin species.
Round dung head grows on horse or cow dung in pastures and is identified by a bright yellow gel covering them when young. It does not stain blue. According to Arora, it is edible but slimy and mediocre.