Deadly
Deadly Galerina
Galerina marginata
Galerina can colonize hardwood logs, including those set up for mushroom growing. It is smaller and smoother, with a thin ring and a rusty brown spore print instead of white. It contains amatoxins.
Shiitake
Lentinula edodes
Edible
Also called black forest mushroom, black mushroom.
Shiitake is a wood-rotting mushroom native to East Asia and one of the most widely cultivated mushrooms in the world. In North America it is not native and is found only where it is grown, on oak logs or sawdust blocks, indoors and in backyards.
The tell
A brown cap with whitish fibers at the edge, white gills with ragged edges, and a tough, fibrous stem.
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
- Convex, flattening with age, 2 to 4 inches across. Tan to dark brown, often with whitish fibers or small scales, especially near the inrolled edge. The surface sometimes cracks into a pattern in dry weather.
- Underside
- Gills attached or notched at the stem, crowded. White to cream, with finely ragged edges, bruising brownish.
- Stem
- Tough and fibrous, whitish to light brown, often off-center and curved. Young specimens may show faint veil remnants near the top.
- Flesh
- White, firm and dense. Smell mild to strongly mushroomy, stronger when dried.
- Spore print
- White.
- Size
- Cap 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm), sometimes larger; stem 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) tall.
Where and when
Where and when it grows
- Habitat
- Native to forests of East Asia on dead hardwoods such as oak and chestnut. In North America it is grown on cut hardwood logs, usually oak, in shaded yards and on farms, and indoors on sawdust blocks.
- Grows on
- Dead hardwood: logs, stumps and sawdust.
- Season
- Cultivated year round indoors. Outdoor logs fruit mainly in spring and fall, or after soaking.
- Range
- Not native to North America; found wherever it is cultivated.
Lookalikes
What the shiitake gets confused with
Each card says how to tell the two apart.
EdibleOyster Mushroom
Pleurotus ostreatus
Oyster mushrooms grow in overlapping shelves with little or no stem, and their gills run down onto the stem. Shiitake has a distinct central or off-center stem and gills that end at it.
EdibleBrick Cap
Hypholoma lateritium
Brick caps grow in dense clusters, have brick-red caps and leave a purple-brown spore print. Shiitake prints white.
Edibility
What the field guides say
Edible
Shiitake is sold fresh and dried across North America and field guides list it as edible. A small number of people develop shiitake dermatitis, a streaky, whip-like rash that appears a day or two after eating raw or undercooked shiitake. The reaction is attributed to lentinan, a polysaccharide in the mushroom.
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 shiitake
Does shiitake grow wild in North America?
No. Shiitake is native to East Asia. In North America it is found only where it is cultivated, on hardwood logs outdoors or on sawdust blocks indoors.
What is shiitake dermatitis?
A rash of red, raised streaks that looks like whip marks, appearing one to two days after eating raw or undercooked shiitake. It affects a small number of people and is attributed to lentinan, a compound in the mushroom.
What does a shiitake mushroom look like?
A tan to dark brown cap 2 to 4 inches across, often with whitish fibers near the edge, white gills with ragged edges, and a tough, fibrous stem. Its spore print is white.
Sources
Where these facts come from
- Shiitake Production on Hardwood Logs
Mississippi State University Extension
- Outdoor Shiitake Mushroom Production on Hardwood Logs in Mississippi
Mississippi State University Extension
- Lentinula edodes
Index Fungorum
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