Lingzhi (mushroom)
Lingzhi, also known as reishi, is a polypore fungus native to East Asia belonging to the genus Ganoderma.
Its reddish brown, varnished, kidney-shaped cap with bands and peripherally inserted stem give it a distinct fan-like appearance. When fresh, the lingzhi is soft, cork-like, and flat. It lacks gills on its underside, and instead releases its spores via fine pores in yellow colors.
In nature, it grows at the base and stumps of deciduous trees, especially maples. Only two or three out of 10,000 such trees will have lingzhi growth, and therefore its wild form is rare. Lingzhi may be cultivated on hardwood logs, sawdust, or woodchips.
The lingzhi mushroom is used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Taxonomy
Lingzhi, also known as reishi from its Japanese pronunciation, is the ancient "mushroom of immortality", revered for over 2,000 years. However, as of 2023 there is an ongoing debate on which one of the described Ganoderma species is the true lingzhi mushroom. It is also likely that a few similar Ganoderma species were considered interchangeable.In the scientific literature, the lingzhi mushroom is ambiguously referred to as:
- Ganoderma sichuanense — the currently accepted name, described by Zhao and Zhang.
- Ganoderma lingzhi — described by Cao et al. as a novel species that may be the best fit for traditional definitions of the lingzhi mushroom. However, Du et al. found that it is the same species as G. sichuanense, so it is now treated as a later synonym.
- Ganoderma lucidum — the type species of Ganoderma was first described in 1781 by Curtis as Boletus lucidus based on European collections. In 1881 Karst designated it as the type species of his new genus Ganoderma, as Ganoderma lucidum. Early literature used G. lucidum for collections from China, but it was later established that Asian populations are distinct from European, both morphologically and phylogenetically. As the lingzhi fungus is strongly rooted in culture, the old name persists, even though it is well established that G. sichuanense and G. lucidum are distinct species.
Ganoderma sichuanense is the most widely found species in Chinese herb shops today, and the fruiting bodies are widely cultivated in China and shipped to many other countries. About 7–10 other Ganoderma species are also sold in some shops, but have different Chinese and Latin names, and are considered different in their activity and functions. The differences are based on concentrations of triterpenes such as ganoderic acid and its derivatives, which vary widely among species. Research on the genus is ongoing, but a number of recent phylogenetic analyses have been published in recent years.
Nomenclature
first described the genus Ganoderma in 1881. He designated as its type species a European fungus named Boletus lucidus by English botanist William Curtis in 1781. Since then, many other Ganoderma species have been described.The lingzhi's botanical names have Greek and Latin roots. Ganoderma derives from the Greek , and . The specific epithet, sichuanense, comes from the Sichuan Chinese province. The common name, lingzhi, comes from Chinese, meaning.
Varieties
It was once thought that G. lingzhi generally occurred in two growth forms: a large, sessile, specimen with a small or nonexistent stalk, found in North America, and a smaller specimen with a long, narrow stalk, found mainly in the tropics. However, recent molecular evidence has identified the former, stalkless, form as a distinct species called G. sessile, a name given to North American specimens by William Alfonso Murrill in 1902.Environmental conditions play a substantial role in the lingzhi's manifest morphological characteristics. For example, elevated carbon dioxide levels result in stem elongation in lingzhi. Other formations include antlers without a cap, which may also be related to carbon dioxide levels. The three main factors that influence fruit body development morphology are light, temperature, and humidity. While water and air quality play a role in fruit body development morphology, they do so to a lesser degree.
Distribution and habitat
Ganoderma lingzhi is found in East Asia growing as a parasite or saprotroph on a variety of trees. Ganoderma curtisii and Ganoderma ravenelii are the closest relatives of the lingzhi mushroom in North America.In the wild, lingzhi grows at the base and stumps of deciduous trees, especially maples. Only two or three out of 10,000 such aged trees will have lingzhi growth, and therefore it is extremely rare in its natural form. Today, lingzhi is effectively cultivated on hardwood logs or sawdust/woodchips.
Uses
Chemistry
Ganoderma lucidum contains diverse chemicals, including triterpenes, which have a molecular structure similar to that of steroid hormones. It also contains phytochemicals found in fungal materials, including polysaccharides, coumarin, mannitol, and alkaloids. Sterols isolated from the mushroom include ganoderol, ganoderenic acid, ganoderiol, ganodermanontriol, lucidadiol, and ganodermadiol.Folk medicine
Because of its bitter taste, lingzhi is traditionally prepared as a hot water extract product for use in folk medicine. Thinly sliced or pulverized lingzhi is added to boiling water which is then reduced to a simmer, covered, and left for 2 hours. The resulting liquid is dark and fairly bitter in taste. The red lingzhi is often more bitter than the black. The process is sometimes repeated to increase the concentration. Alternatively, it can be used as an ingredient in a formula decoction, or used to make an extract.Other uses
Lingzhi is commercially manufactured and sold. Since the early 1970s, most lingzhi is cultivated. Lingzhi can grow on substrates such as sawdust, grain, and wood logs. After formation of the fruiting body, lingzhi is most commonly harvested, dried, ground, and processed into tablets or capsules to be directly ingested or made into tea or soup. Other lingzhi products include processed fungal mycelia or spores. Lingzhi is also used to create mycelium bricks.Cultural significance
In the chronicles of , the initial use of nearby separately related words with Zhi and ling are attested to in the poems of Emperor Wu of Han. Later, in the 1st century CE through the poetry of Ban Gu, occurred the first combination of the characters 靈芝 together into a single word, in an ode dedicated to Lingzhi.Since ancient times, Taoist temples were called "the abode of mushrooms" and according to their mystical teachings, the use of woody mushrooms or "spirits mushroom", in particular making from it a concentrated decoction of hallucinogenic action, gave followers the opportunity to see spirits or become spirits themselves by receiving the magical energy of the immortals, located on the "fields of grace" in the heavenly "mushroom fields".
In the philosophical work, it is said that the lingzhi mushroom is personification of nobility; from which shamans brewed a psychedelic drink.
The of classifies into six color categories, each of which is believed to benefit the, or "life force", in a different part of the body: for the liver, for the heart, for the spleen, for the lungs, for the kidneys, and for the Essence. Commentators identify the red, or , as the lingzhi.
In the Taoist treatise of from Ge Hong, the lingzhi is used for immortality. / Lu Di // «East Asian Science, Technology, and Medicine», № 37 /2014: 36-68. / Li Wang, Jie-qing Li, Ji Zhang, Zhi-min Li, Hong-gao Liu, Yuan-zhong Wang // RSC Advances: Issue 69, 2020.
The has a category that includes six types of and sixteen other fungi, mushrooms, and lichens, including mu'er. The author Li Shizhen classified these six differently colored zhi as xiancao, and described the effects of chizhi :
Chinese herbology describes the zhi.
The Bencao Gangmu does not list lingzhi as a variety of zhi, but as an alternate name for the shi'er lichen. According to Stuart and Smith,
In Chinese art, the lingzhi symbolizes great health and longevity, as depicted in the imperial Forbidden City and Summer Palace. It was a talisman for luck in the traditional culture of China, and the goddess of healing Guanyin is sometimes depicted holding a lingzhi mushroom.
Regional names
Chinese
The Old Chinese name for lingzhi 靈芝 was first recorded during the Han dynasty. In the Chinese language, is a compound. It comprises " as, for example, in the name of the Lingyan Temple in Jinan, and ; ". Fabrizio Pregadio notes, "The term zhi, which has no equivalent in Western languages, refers to a variety of supermundane substances often described as plants, fungi, or 'excrescences'." Zhi occurs in other Chinese plant names, such as , and was anciently used a phonetic loan character for . Chinese differentiates Ganoderma species into G. lingzhi, and Ganoderma sinense.Lingzhi has several synonyms. Of these, is the oldest; the Erya dictionary defines 苬, interpreted as a miscopy of as , and the commentary of Guo Pu says, "The flowers three times in one year. It is a felicitous plant." Other Chinese names for Ganoderma include , , , , and or .
Since both Chinese ling and zhi have multiple meanings, lingzhi has diverse English translations. Renditions include " possessed of soul power", "Herb of Spiritual Potency" or "Mushroom of Immortality", "Numinous Mushroom", "divine mushroom", "divine fungus", "Magic Fungus", and "Marvelous Fungus".