Lentinula edodes

Also known as shiitake, shiitake mushrooms, shiitake mushroom

The shiitake, (; Chinese, or black mushroom, Lentinula edodes) is a macrofungus native to East Asia and mainland Southeast Asia, which is cultivated and consumed around the globe.

OverviewAI-generated

Lentinula edodes, commonly known as Shiitake, is a species of edible and medicinal mushroom within the kingdom Fungi. It belongs to the phylum Basidiomycota, class Agaricomycetes, order Agaricales, and family Omphalotaceae. The taxon is classified under the parent genus Lentinula and was cited by (Berk.) Pegler in 1976. It produces a white spore print and features a lamella hymenium type. Ecologically, it functions as a saprobiont.

The species is native to Hainan. Records of Lentinula edodes have been documented in Mexico, Brasil, the United States, Papua New Guinea, and Australia. Institutional collections include those from IB-CUCBA-UDG, UFRGS, DUKE, MEL, and TENN-F. Scientific literature references the organism in 1612 PubMed entries, while biological observation databases contain 1343 records.

Synthesized by Vinony from 40 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, iNaturalist, PubMed, Gbif Occ, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

Shiitake

Lentinula edodes

SPECIES

KingdomFungi
PhylumBasidiomycota
ClassAgaricomycetes
OrderAgaricales
FamilyOmphalotaceae

Observations1,343

Observations recorded2,327

Shiitake, Lentin du chêne, Lentin comestible, champignon parfumé Le Lentin du Chêne (Lentinula edodes), lentin comestible, également appelé shiitake ou shiitaké (du japonais natif shiitake (シイタケ, 椎茸?)), ou encore champignon parfumé (du chinois : 香菇 ; pinyin : xiāng gū) est une espèce de champignons basidiomycètes de la famille des Marasmiaceae. C'est un champignon comestible poussant en Extrême-Orient sur le bois de divers feuillus et qui tire son nom japonais de l'arbre shii (シイ, 椎?) qui est son hôte historique. Ce dernier (Castanopsis cuspidata) est un arbre majestueux à très petites feuilles, de la famille des Fagaceae. Ce champignon possède, en plus d'un parfum doux et agréable, des propriétés nutritives remarquables, avec une richesse en vitamines B, vitamine D, fer, potassium. Dans la médecine traditionnelle chinoise, il est considéré comme un élément neutre et orexigène (stimulant l'appétit) en cas d'anorexie. En raison de toutes ces propriétés, c'est un élément récurrent de différentes cuisines chinoise, coréenne ou japonaise.

via GBIF

Museum specimens

Specimen records: 75
With media: 74
Family: Omphalotaceae
Collections: IB-CUCBA-UDG, UFRGS, DUKE, MEL, TENN-F, F
Recorded in: Mexico, Brasil, United States, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Nepal, China

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Research

1,612 papers

Immunomodulatory Properties of Polysaccharides from Lentinula edodes.ReviewInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2022Roszczyk A, Turło J, Zagożdżon R et al.DOI: 10.3390/ijms23168980
Lentinula edodes as a Source of Bioactive Compounds with Therapeutical Potential in Intestinal Inflammation and Colorectal Cancer.ReviewInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2025Bugajewski M, Angerhoefer N, Pączek L et al.DOI: 10.3390/ijms26073320
Cultivation methods and biology of Lentinula edodes.ReviewApplied microbiology and biotechnology · 2025Song X, Shang X, Zhang M et al.DOI: 10.1007/s00253-024-13387-w
Marker recycling in Lentinula edodes via 5-fluoroorotic acid counter-selection.FEMS microbiology letters · 2024Narutaki T, Kamiya A, Tsujimoto Y et al.DOI: 10.1093/femsle/fnae073
Lentinula edodes Genome Survey and Postharvest Transcriptome Analysis.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2017Sakamoto Y, Nakade K, Sato S et al.DOI: 10.1128/AEM.02990-16
Bioactive small secondary metabolites from the mushrooms Lentinula edodes and Flammulina velutipes.ReviewThe Journal of antibiotics · 2020Fukushima-Sakuno EDOI: 10.1038/s41429-020-0354-x
Selenium-containing polysaccharides from Lentinula edodes-Biological activity.Carbohydrate polymers · 2019Kaleta B, Górski A, Zagożdżon R et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.115078
LENTINULA EDODES POLYSACCHARIDES SUPPRESSED PRO-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES EXPRESSION AND COLITIS IN MICE.Arquivos de gastroenterologia · 2022Alagbaoso CA, Mizuno MDOI: 10.1590/S0004-2803.202202000-51

via PubMed

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Encyclopedic overview

9 sections

Contents

Taxonomy
Distribution and habitat
Cultivation
Toxicity
Uses
Nutrition
Gallery
References
External links

The shiitake, (; Chinese, or black mushroom, Lentinula edodes) is a macrofungus native to East Asia and mainland Southeast Asia, which is cultivated and consumed around the globe.

==Taxonomy== The fungus was first described scientifically as Agaricus edodes by Miles Joseph Berkeley in 1877. It was placed in the genus Lentinula by David Pegler in 1976. The fungus has acquired an extensive synonymy in its taxonomic history: Agaricus edodes Berk. (1878) Armillaria edodes (Berk.) Sacc. (1887) Mastoleucomychelloes edodes (Berk.) Kuntze (1891) Cortinellus edodes (Berk.) S.Ito & S.Imai (1938) Lentinus edodes (Berk.) Singer (1941) Collybia shiitake J.Schröt. (1886) Lepiota shiitake (J.Schröt.) Nobuj. Tanaka (1889) Cortinellus shiitake (J.Schröt.) Henn. (1899) Tricholoma shiitake (J.Schröt.) Lloyd (1918) Lentinus shiitake (J.Schröt.) Singer (1936) Lentinus tonkinensis Pat. (1890) Lentinus mellianus Lohwag (1918)

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Lentinula edodes” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.