Inedible
Artist's Conk
Ganoderma applanatum
Hard, flat and perennial, with a dull gray to brown top that is never shiny. Its white pore surface also bruises brown.
Reishi
Ganoderma tsugae
Inedible, used in teas
Also called hemlock varnish shelf, hemlock reishi.
The hemlock reishi, or hemlock varnish shelf, is a glossy red bracket that looks freshly varnished. It grows on dead and dying hemlock in eastern North America. It is too woody to eat. Reishi is dried and brewed as a tea.
Ganoderma tsugae
Photo coming
The tell
A shiny, lacquered red to mahogany bracket on hemlock, with a white pore surface.
Field marks
What to look at
Cap, underside and stem show in a photo. The spore print does not, and it is often the deciding check.
- Cap
- Kidney- to fan-shaped bracket, shiny and lacquered, deep red to mahogany, with a white to yellow growing edge when young. The surface often has concentric ridges.
- Underside
- White to cream pore surface with tiny pores, bruising brown when scratched, darkening with age.
- Stem
- Often present: short, attached at the side, and lacquered like the cap. Some brackets attach directly to the wood with no stem.
- Flesh
- Soft and pale when young, becoming tough, corky and light brown.
- Spore print
- Brown.
- Size
- Bracket 2 to 12 inches (5 to 30 cm) wide; stem, when present, 1 to 6 inches (2.5 to 15 cm) long.
Where and when
Where and when it grows
- Habitat
- Conifer and mixed forests, on stumps, logs and the lower trunks of dead or dying hemlock.
- Grows on
- Dead and dying conifer wood, mainly eastern hemlock.
- Season
- Grows in late spring and summer; old brackets persist through the year.
- Range
- Eastern North America, wherever hemlock grows.
Lookalikes
What the reishi gets confused with
Each card says how to tell the two apart.
Hardwood reishi (Ganoderma sessile and G. curtisii)
Nearly identical lacquered brackets, but on hardwoods such as oak and maple rather than hemlock.
EdibleBeefsteak Fungus
Fistulina hepatica
Red but soft, moist and juicy, with red flesh and separate tubes underneath. It grows on oak, not hemlock.
Western varnish shelf (Ganoderma oregonense)
A larger western relative on conifers in the Pacific Northwest and California.
Edibility
What the field guides say
Inedible, used in teas
Field guides list reishi as inedible because it is tough and woody. Dried reishi is sliced or ground and simmered in water as a tea, and Ganoderma species have a long history of use in traditional Chinese medicine under the name lingzhi. Commercial reishi is usually cultivated Asian Ganoderma rather than this species.
This page states what field guides record. It is not advice to eat, taste or handle anything, and a photo cannot settle edibility. If someone has eaten a wild mushroom that may be toxic, call poison control (1-800-222-1222 in the US) right away, before symptoms start: the deadliest species act hours later.
FAQ
Questions about the reishi
What is reishi used for?
It is dried and simmered as a tea or sold as powders and extracts. Ganoderma, called lingzhi in Chinese, has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries. It is not eaten as a food because it is woody.
Where does reishi grow?
The hemlock reishi grows on dead and dying hemlock in eastern North America. Closely related reishi species grow on hardwoods in the East and on conifers in the West.
What does reishi look like?
A kidney- or fan-shaped bracket with a shiny, varnished red to mahogany surface, often on a short side stem. The underside is white with tiny pores that bruise brown.
Sources
Where these facts come from
- Ganoderma tsugae
MushroomExpert.com
- Ganoderma tsugae
Fungi Growing on Wood, Gary Emberger (MushroomExpert.com)
- Ganoderma tsugae
Index Fungorum
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