Poria

Wolfiporia extensa

Polyporaceae

A buried pine fungus used in Chinese soups for dampness, gut, and calm — a sclerotium, not a mushroom cap.

Traditional Chinese sclerotium (fu ling). The grocery item is the peeled inner fungus, not a cap.

Parts used: Sclerotium (inner white)
Traditional notes: Dampness and water metabolism folklore · Calm · Soup with astragalus and jujube
Grow · USDA 6b: Pine-associated sclerotium of East Asian woods Most cooks buy dried fu ling. Outdoor pine-log culture is regional and slow. In work: Oct · Nov
Harvest: Sclerotia after 1–2 years underground in specialist culture.

Buy peeled white cubes from a known spice shop.
This is not an oyster kit. Do not expect a cap.
Simmer it. Raw sclerotium is not a snack.

Safety

Known mushroom allergy

Lore

Fú líng, the sclerotium in pine roots, looking like a dusty coconut when dug. Chinese formulas treat it as a quiet drain-and-calm fungus. You buy slices, you do not stumble on it walking the dog.

The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.