REISHI MUSHROOM

ganoderma lucidum

AKA
Ling-shi

PARTS USED
body and stem

The mushroom known in Japan as Reishi and China as Lingzhi
- an Asian form of ganoderma lucidum is a polypore mushroom.
They have no gills but instead pores that release their seed (spores)
hence the name polypore.
Reishi is a large, dark, very tough, woody /corky mushroom.
Most mushrooms are around 90% water, while reishi is around 75% water.
Dry or wet it is inedible, therefore it must be made into a tea or extract.

It is rarely found in nature, and has been used as a herbal medicine
for more than 4,000 years in traditional Chinese medicine,
making it the oldest mushroom known to have been used in medicine.

'Lingzhi', in Chinese, means "herb of spiritual potency", and because
of its multiple health benefits and absence of side-effects, it has attained
an unparalleled reputation in the East as the ultimate herbal substance.
Lingzhi has now been added
to the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia and Therapeutic Compendium.