The shiitake (; Chinese mushroom, black mushroom, Lentinula edodes or sometimes Lentinus 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.
Distribution and habitat
Shiitake grow in groups on the decaying wood of deciduous trees, particularly shii and other chinquapins, chestnut, oak, maple, beech, sweetgum, poplar, hornbeam, ironwood, and mulberry. Its natural distribution includes warm and moist climates in Southeast Asia. The 185-word description of shiitake cultivation from that literature was later cross-referenced many times and eventually adapted in a book by a Japanese horticulturist in 1796, the first book on shiitake cultivation in Japan. Before 1982, the Japan Islands' variety of these mushrooms could only be grown in traditional locations using ancient methods. A 1982 report on the budding and growth of the Japanese variety revealed opportunities for commercial cultivation in the United States.
Gallery
<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Shiitake mushroom in Vegetable store in Yuen Long.jpg|Fresh shiitake mushroom in the vegetable market in Hong Kong
File:Wild Shiitake-Mushroom Japan.JPG|shiitake growing wild in Hokkaido
File:Pyogobokkeum.jpg|Korean pyogo-bokkeum (stir-fried shiitake mushroom)
File:Shiitake Meshi Ekiben.JPG|Japanese ekiben
File:Shiitake timelapse.webm|Timelapse video of shiitake growth
File:Lentinan.svg|Lentinan, a beta-glucan isolated from the shiitake mushroom
File:Shitake Mushroom.jpg|Young shiitake mushrooms on a log
</gallery>