Ling Zhi

Ganoderma lucidum, the reishi or lingzhi, is a polypore wood-decay fungus in the family Ganodermataceae, distributed across temperate and subtropical forests of East Asia, Europe, and North America, where it grows as a saprophyte or weak parasite on hardwoods, particularly oak. The fruiting body (basidiocarp) is conspicuously fan- or kidney-shaped, 5-25 cm across, with a distinctive lacquered, varnished appearance ranging from reddish-brown to chestnut, often with a paler growing margin. A lateral or eccentric stipe, similarly varnished, attaches the cap to the substrate. The white to pale-brown underside bears a poroid hymenium that releases brown basidiospores. The flesh is corky and tough, woody when dried. Cultivated worldwide on logs and supplemented substrates.