Lanmaoa asiatica
Lanmaoa asiatica is a species of bolete mushroom of the family Boletaceae. It is reddish in color and an ectomycorrhizal symbiote of the Yunnan Pine, Pinus yunnanensis. It is a type of hallucinogenic [bolete mushroom] and is notable for causing lilliputian hallucinations when eaten raw. The effects of Lanmaoa asiatica in animals are being studied by Colin Domnauer and Bryn Dentinger and there is work towards identifying its active constituents as of late 2025.
Range
The mushroom is found in Yunnan and the northern Cordillera, where it is known as Jianshouqing and Sedesdem respectively.Toxicity
It is believed that the mushroom is less hallucinogenic when cooked thoroughly. Yunnanese restaurants have developed a complete system of cooking and serving standards to minimize poisoning, with some establishments going further to make sure to always leave a sample of the mushrooms for analysis. The local government also sends short messages during mushroom season to warn about the potential of poisonings. Nevertheless, poisonings remain common and the treatment thereof has subsequently become a specialty of local hospitals.Chemical and genomic analyses have shown that the Lanmaoa asiatica does not contain any known psychoactive compounds such as psilocybin or muscimol. It is likely that there remains an unknown hallucinogenic compound yet to be discovered in this species. Chemical analysis of Lanmaoa asiatica has identified numerous compounds and their pharmacological activity has been studied, but as yet none of them have been linked to the reported psychoactive effects.
There are reports of Lilliputian hallucinations across several countries that remain unexplained. In one Yunnan hospital doctors treat hundreds of such cases a year that manifest visions of tiny elves going under doors, climbing the furniture, and scaling walls. It is considered a choice wild edible because of its umami flavor, which is highly regarded in Asia. "At a mushroom hot pot restaurant there, the server set a timer for 15 minutes and warned us, 'Don't eat it until the timer goes off or you might see little people,'" says Colin Domnauer, a University of Utah doctoral candidate who studies L. asiatica.
In 2023, Lanmaoa asiatica received international media attention after U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was reported to have eaten a dish that contained it during an official visit to China. Yellen stated that the dish had been thoroughly cooked, and she experienced no ill effects.