Reishi

Ganoderma lucidum

Also: Lingzhi, Varnished conk, Mushroom of immortality

WarmingDryingTonifying

A slow mushroom tonic for immunity, sleep, and a tired heart.

A woody bracket fungus with a lacquered red-brown cap that grows from the base of dying hardwoods. Reishi steadies the immune system in both directions, calms and strengthens a frayed nervous system, and supports the heart and circulation.

Energetics: Warming, drying, toning
Taste: Bitter, earthy, savory
Family: Ganodermataceae (polypore family)
Parts used: Fruiting body

Medicinal uses 5

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Traditional useLab and mechanism studiesClinical studies

Frequent colds & low immunityTLC
Balances immunity, raising a weak response and calming an overreactive one; studied alongside cancer care.
Trouble sleepingTLC
Calms the nervous system for deeper sleep over weeks of use.
Exhaustion & burnoutTLC
Restores a body worn down by long stress or illness.
Seasonal allergiesTLC
Calms allergic reactions in lab studies and traditional use.
High blood pressureTLC
Helps lower high blood pressure.

Preparations

Long-simmered decoction, double-extracted tincture, and broths.

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Cautions

Can thin the blood slightly; take care alongside blood thinners and stop two weeks before surgery.
May lower blood pressure and blood sugar; tell your prescriber if you take medicine for either.
Wild polypores are easy to confuse; buy reishi from a trusted grower.

Medication interactions

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Pregnancy & breastfeeding

PregnancyLimited data

Pregnancy research is limited. Talk with your midwife before taking it daily.

BreastfeedingModerate amounts

Considered low risk at moderate doses.

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Folklore

China's oldest materia medica, the Shennong Bencao Jing, ranked lingzhi among the superior herbs that lengthen life. Its curling shape gave the ruyi, a ceremonial scepter of good fortune, its head. Ganoderma lucidum means shining skin, for the lacquered cap. Wild reishi was rare enough to be a gift for emperors; nearly all reishi today is grown on logs or sawdust.

How to grow

Cultivated on hardwood logs or sawdust blocks inoculated with spawn, kept warm, shaded, and humid. Harvest when the white growing edge of the cap turns the same color as the rest.

In the wild

On the bases and stumps of dying hardwoods, especially oaks and maples, in temperate and subtropical forests worldwide.

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