Yellow Reishi Culture Plate

The Yellow Reishi mushroom is a polypore mushroom belonging to the genus Ganoderma, and is also known as Lingzhi. Its yellow-varnished, kidney-shaped cap gives it a distinct appearance. When fresh, the it is soft, cork-like, and flat. It lacks gills on its underside, and instead releases its spores via fine pores. Depending on the age of the mushroom, the pores on its underside may be white or brown. Lingzhi mushroom is used in traditional Chinese medicine. In nature, it grows at the base and stumps of deciduous trees, especially that of the maple. Only two or three out of 10,000 such aged trees will have lingzhi growth, and therefore its wild form is extremely rare. Today, lingzhi is effectively cultivated on hardwood logs or sawdust/woodchips.