Shiitake

Lentinula edodes

Omphalotaceae

The farmable forest mushroom — food first, immune-modulating lentinan as a bonus.

Everyday culinary mushroom.

Parts used: Fruiting body
Traditional notes: Recovery foods · High cholesterol folklore · Winter vitality
Grow · USDA 6b: Temperate hardwood saprophyte Plug-spawn logs in spring, or indoor blocks year-round. In work: Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Sep · Oct · Nov
Harvest: Caps 70–90% open, still slightly inrolled.

Force a soaked log with a cold dunk when you want a flush.
Caps are ready when the margin is still slightly inrolled.
Rest logs in the shade between flushes. Sun cooks spawn.

Safety

Known shiitake dermatitis

Lore

Shii is the Castanopsis tree it fruited on in Japan; take is mushroom. A thousand years of log culture before the sawdust block. Dried, it makes the kitchen smell of the woods you wish you owned.

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.