Ganoderma tsugae
f. cul. innocuus
f. cul.
Ganoderma tsugae f. cul. innocuus
innocuus: The published record carries no link to a toxic molecule: neither a poisoning report nor an assay has identified anything in this species that a kitchen would need to remove. Because the source of that record is the field-guide literature, the listing carries a positive claim as well -- a substantial community base of people who eat it, a widespread cultural record of edibility that comes down to us via field guides. That record is a simplification of what had been more widespread practice prior to global urbanization: silence in it understates practice and is never evidence against a species. Cook it, as nearly every mushroom is cooked -- but the cooking rescues nothing and nothing is being driven out. ⚠ The operation may be physically identical to a detoxification leach: the chanterelle is scalded several times and the water discarded, for bitterness. Nothing in the act distinguishes them and only the REASON does. This name is where that reason lives.
On The Innocuus List, Medicinal Use, The Complete Table.
GBIF: photographs, names and where it has been found.
Sources
| Li et al. 2021 | 1 report of eating without harm Li H, Tian Y, Menolli N Jr, Ye L, Karunarathna SC, Perez-Moreno J, Rahman MM, Rashid MH, Phengsintham P, Rizal L, Kasuya T, Lim YW, Dutta AK, Khalid AN, Huyen LT, Balolong MP, Baruah G, Madawala S, Thongklang N, Hyde KD, Kirk PM, Xu J, Sheng J, Boa E, Mortimer PE (2021). Reviewing the world's edible mushroom species: a new evidence-based classification system. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety 20: 1982-2014. Supplementary Table S1. link |
| Boa E 2004 | ‘edible(m)’ — Annex 3 Boa E R (2004). Wild edible fungi: a global overview of their use and importance to people. Non-Wood Forest Products 17. Rome: FAO. ISBN 92-5-105157-7. link |
| Wu et al. 2026 | ‘药用’ medicinal — entry 1170, 松杉灵芝 Wu F, Liu SB, Wang XH, Zhang M, Yang ZL, Dai YC (2026). 中国食药用菌物种编目 [Species cataloging of edible and medicinal fungi in China]. 菌物学报 Mycosystema 45(1): 250237. link |
| Wu et al. 2019 | ‘Calming the nervousness and invigorating the liver’ — Wu et al. 2019, Table 1, p. 19, citing Dai et al. 2009 Wu F, Zhou L-W, Yang Z-L, Bau T, Li T-H, Dai Y-C (2019). Resource diversity of Chinese macrofungi: edible, medicinal and poisonous species. Fungal Diversity 98: 1-76. doi:10.1007/s13225-019-00432-7. Table 1, 'Medicinal fungi and their function(s)'. link |
Medicinal Use. Medicinal use: Calming the nervousness and invigorating the liver (Wu et al. 2019, Table 1, p. 19, citing Dai et al. 2009). Listed as medicinal: Boa 2004, Annex 3, (m); Wu et al. 2026, 药用 ‘medicinal’. Also eaten as food: on the Innocuus List.
Cite this pageRubel, William. 2026. “Ganoderma tsugae.” Taxonomy of Toxins. Last modified 24 October 2026. https://taxonomyoftoxins.com/species/ganoderma-tsugae/