Medicinal Mushrooms

Kuehneromyces mutabilis, commonly named for the different colors above and below the annulus.
Picture source: Wikipedia.

Synonyms

Agaricus mutabilis Schaeff.
Dryophila mutabilis (Schaeff.) Quél.
Galerina mutabilis (Schaeff.) P.D. Orton
Lepiota caudicina Gray
Pholiota mutabilis (Schaeff.) P. Kumm.

Brown Stew Fungus
Two-toned Pholiota
Sheathed Woodtuft
Stockschwämmchen (German)

(Adapted from Overholts, 1927)
Cap: 3-6 cm diameter; convex to plane; cinnamon/tan when moist, paler when dry, ochraceous-buff when dry, hygrophanous, glabrous.
Gills: adnate or slightly decurrent, medium-close, 2-4 mm broad, pallid then cinnamon.
Veil: forming a white or dark, superior, evanescent or persistent annulus.
Stem: 3-8 cm tall, 3-5 mm diameter, central, equal, concolorous with the cap above the ring; scaly below the ring, pruinose above, stuffed then hollow.
Spores: reddish ochre, ovoid or elliptic, slightly truncate at one end, smooth, 6-7.5 x 4-5 µm.
Habitat: on stumps and logs.
Edibility: Edible, although not recommended due to similar appearance to poisonous species Galerina marginata.

A long-term Finnish study on the occurrence of some common edible macromycetes describes how K. mutabilis was found at the same tree stumps for 13 years, suggesting an impressive mycelial longevity (Hintikka 1993).

The title of Mentel and associates' paper (1994) suggests that the two-toned pholiota has some anti-viral activity against influenza virus. I'll  let you know more details once I get a hold of the paper.

Polysaccharides extracted from the mycelial culture of K. mutabilis and administered intraperitoneally into white mice at a dosage of 300 mg/kg inhibited the growth of Sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich solid cancers by 100% and 90%, respectively (Ohtsuka et al., 1973).

Links

Roger's mushrooms
Josef Hlasek's site has some nice pictures
California fungi
Biopix has an impressive gallery of pictures.

References

Hintikka V.
Occurrence of edible fungi and other macromycetes on tree stumps over a sixteen-year period.
Acta Botanica Fennica. 1993 149(0):11-17.

Mentel R, Meinsen D, Pilgrim H, Herrmann B, Lindequist U.
In vitro antiviral effect of extracts of Kuehneromyces mutabilis on influenza virus.
Pharmazie. 1994 49(11):859-60.

Ohtsuka S, Ueno S, Yoshikumi C, Hirose F, Ohmura Y, Wada T, Fujii T, Takahashi E.
Polysaccharides having an anticarcinogenic effect and a method of producing them from species of Basidiomycetes.
UK Patent 1331513, 26 September 1973.

Overholts LO.
A monograph of the genus Pholiota in the United States.
Ann Mis Bot Gar. 1927 14(2):87-211.

 
Last modified: 13-Aug-2008

Picture source: Wikimedia Commons

Synonyms

[Basionym]: Boletus miniatus Libosch.
Boletus cinnabarinus (Jacq.)
Boletus coccineus (Bull)
Coriolus cinnabarinus (Jacq.) G. Cunn.
Fabisporus cinnabarinus (Jacq.) Zmitr.
Hapalopilus cinnabarinus (Jacq.) P. Karst.
Leptoporus cinnabarinus (Jacq.) Quél.
Phellinus cinnabarinus (Jacq.) Quél.
Polyporus cinnabarinus (Jacq.:Fr.)
Polystictus cinnabarinus (Jacq.:Fr.) Cooke
Trametes cinnabarina (Jacq.:Fr.)
Trametes cinnabarinus (Jacq.:Fr.)

Cinnabar polypore
Zinnoberschwamm (German)

Fruiting body: 2-12 cm across, 2-8 cm wide, 0.5-2.0 cm thick, kidney or fan-shaped; leathery, becoming corky when dried; upper surface covered in fine soft hairs when young, giving them a pruinose appearance; later smooth and wrinkled, cinnabar -red or orange-red, color decreasing in intensity with age.
Tubes: 2-6 mm long, cinnabar red.
Pores: 2-4 per mm, round or angular, cinnabar-red.
Spores: white, oblong-ellipsoid, non-amyloid, 4.5-6 x 2-3 µm. 
Spore print: white.
Habitat: lives on dead deciduous trees, especially cherry, beech and birch.
Season: summer and fall. Rare.
Edibility: not edible.
Distribution: America, Asia and Europe.

Picture source: Robert L. Anderson, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org

Medicinal Properties
Antibacterial efffects

The fruitbodies of Pycnoporus cinnabarinus were screened and found to possess antibacterial properties (Fajana et al., 1999). Shittu et al. (2005) examined mycelial growth and antibacterial metabolite production. The antibacterial activity (measured by the agar cup diffusion method) against B. subtilis was highest after four days of growth.

The concentrated culture fluid of P. cinnabarinus showed biological activity against a variety of bacterial strains, with maximal inhibitory effect for Gram-positive bacteria of the genus Streptococcus. P. cinnabarinus produces the phenoxazinone derivative, cinnabarinic acid, a red pigment that accumulates in fruit bodies as well as in liquid cultures. Laccase secreted by the fungus oxidizes the precursor 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid to cinnabarinic acid, a reaction that is necessary for the production of antibacterial compounds. The biological activity of concentrated P. cinnabarinus culture fluid was nearly identical with that of cinnabarinic acid, synthesized by purified laccase in vitro (Eggert, 1997).

In another study, the 20-day-old liquid culture filtrate of Pycnoporus cinnabarinus showed good antibacterial effects against the growth of the Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa as well as Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus. The culture filtrate was also used against mycelial growth and mycelial weight of three plant pathogenic fungi Botrytis cinerea, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides [Glomerella cingulata] and Colletotrichum miyabeanus, showing good inhibitory effect (Imtiaj and Taesoo, 2007).

Anti-tumor effects

Polysaccharides extracted from the mycelial culture of P. cinnabarinus and administered intraperitoneally into white mice at a dosage of 300 mg/kg inhibited the growth of Sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich solid cancers by 90% (Ohtsuka et al., 1973).

References

Eggert C.
Laccase-catalyzed formation of cinnabarinic acid is responsible for antibacterial activity of Pycnoporus cinnabarinus.
Microbiol. Res. 1997 152(3):315-8.

Fajana OB, Alofe FV, Onawunmi GO, Ogundaini AO, Tiwalade TA.
Antimicrobial studies on Nigerian higher fungi. 
Nigerian J Nat Prod Med. 1999 3:64-65.

Imtiaj A, TaeSoo L.
Screening of antibacterial and antifungal activities from Korean wild mushrooms.
World J Agric Sci. 2007 3(3):316-21.

Ohtsuka S, Ueno S, Yoshikumi C, Hirose F, Ohmura Y, Wada T, Fujii T, Takahashi E.
Polysaccharides having an anticarcinogenic effect and a method of producing them from species of Basidiomycetes.
UK Patent 1331513, 26 September 1973.

Shittu, OB, Alofe, FV,Onawunmi GO, Ogundaini AO, Tiwalade TA.
Mycelial growth and antibacterial metabolite production by wild mushrooms.
African J Biomed Res. 2005 8(3):157-62.
Bioline

Last modified: 13-July-2008

Calodon fasciatus (Peck) Pat. [as 'fasciatum']
Calodon zonatus (Batsch) P. Karst.
Hydnellum fasciatum (Peck) Coker & Beers
Hydnellum parvum Banker
Hydnellum queletii (Fr.) P. Karst. [as 'Queleletii']
Hydnellum scrobiculatum f. parvum (Banker) D. Hall & D.E. Stuntz
Hydnellum scrobiculatum var. zonatum (Batsch) K.A. Harrison
Hydnellum subsuccosum K.A. Harrison
Hydnellum velutinum var. zonatum (Batsch) Maas Geest.
Hydnellum vespertilio (Berk.) Banker
Hydnellum zonatum (Batsch) P. Karst.
Hydnellum zonatum f. vespertilio (Berk.) Coker & Beers
Hydnum concrescens Pers.
Hydnum fasciatum Peck
Hydnum queletii Fr.
Hydnum scrobiculatum subsp. zonatum (Batsch) S. Lundell
Hydnum spathulatum Lloyd
Hydnum vespertilio Berk.
Hydnum zonatum Batsch
Phaeodon zonatus (Batsch) J. Schröt.

Zoned hydnellum
Zoned tooth
Concrescent corky spine fungus
Zontaggsvamp (Swedish)

Fruiting body: single, more often concrescent.
Cap: up to 5 cm broad, plane to depressed, margin evenly to irregularly lobed, tomentose to matted or glabrous, rugulose to rugose, pitted to asperate at disc, white, reddish white to dark brown; yellowish spots of excrement often present on dried sporophores; zonate or with concentric corrugations.
Context: up to 3.5 mm thick, not duplex, slightly zonate, concolorous with cap surface.
Stem: up to 3.3×1.2 cm, central, attenuating upward with a bulbous base, spongy tomentose, matted or glabrous, concolorous, context duplex, zonate, concolorous.
Spines: up to 2 mm long, decurrent, crowded, reddish white to reddish brown or violet brown.
Chemical reactions: context tissue blue green in KOH or NH₄OH.
Spores: 6.5 x 4-4.8 µm, subglobose, brownish; tuberculate ornamentation.
Spore deposit: brown.

It is apparently very difficult to distinguish between this species and the morphologically similar H. scrobiculatum. Readers interested in reading how researchers used molecular geneticsto distiniguish between them should check out Parfitt et al., 2007.  Due to its fewer appearances in recent years, H. concrescens is a 'Biodiversity Action Plan' species in the UK. See this issue of English Nature Research Reports for more details.

Bioactive compounds

A Chinese research paper (Yang et al., 2007) has identified nine known compounds from the fruiting bodies of Hydnellum concrescens, including:

- friedelin
- (22E,24R)-ergosta-5,7,22-trine-3β-ol
- 5α,8α-epidioxy-(22E,24R)-ergosta-6,22-dien-3β-ol
- (22E,24R)-ergosta-5,22-dien-3β-hydroxyl-7-one
- 6-methoxy-cerevisterol
- thelephantin I
- thelephantin J
- thelephantin K
- thelephantin L

Polysaccharides extracted from the mycelial culture of H. concrescens and administered intraperitoneally into white mice at a dosage of 300 mg/kg inhibited the growth of Sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich solid cancers by 100% and 90%, respectively (Ohtsuka et al., 1973).

Links

Roger's mushrooms

References

Baird RE, Khan SR.
The stipitate hydnums (thelephoraceae) of Florida.
Brittonia. 1986 38(2):171-84.

Ohtsuka S, Ueno S, Yoshikumi C, Hirose F, Ohmura Y, Wada T, Fujii T, Takahashi E.
Polysaccharides having an anticarcinogenic effect and a method of producing them from species of Basidiomycetes.
UK Patent 1331513, 26 September 1973.

Parfitt D, Ainsworth AM, Simpson D, Rogers HJ, Boddy L.
Molecular and morphological discrimination of stipitate hydnoids in the genera Hydnellum and Phellodon.
Mycological Res. 2007 111():761-77.

Yang X-L, Wang F, Shao H-J, Dong Z-J, Ding Z-H, Yang W-Q.
Study on the chemical constituents of Hydnellum concrescens. [Chinese]
Nat Prod Res Dev. 2007
Abstract

Last modified: 17-Aug-2008

Picture source: Wikimedia commons

Clavaria aurea Schaeff.
Corallium aurea (Schaeffer per Fries)

Golden coral
Golden clavaria
Goldgelbe Koralle (German)
Kuřátka zlatá (Czech)

Fruit bodies: up to 10 cm high, up to 7 cm wide, repeatedly branched; yellow or ochraceous.
Stem: single to fasciculate, stout, smooth, elastic, white or near-white, usually with more than one fruit body formed from a single point. Major branches numerous, concolorous to stipe
Spores: sub-cylindrical, rough in outline 8-15 x 3-6 µm.
Spore deposit: ochreaceous.
Habitat: grows on the ground in mixed woods.
Edibility: avoid-causes gastrointestinal disturbances in some individuals.

This species is similar in appearance to several of the other Ramaria, and usually examination of microscopic characteristics is required for absolute identification. See Petersens' paper (1974) for a detailed description of microscopic features.

Ramaria aurea (as Clavaria aurea) from Burt's paper (1922).

 
Another view of the golden coral.
Source: Dave Powell, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org

Anti-tumor properties

Polysaccharides extracted from the mycelial culture of R. aurea and administered intraperitoneally into white mice at a dosage of 300 mg/kg inhibited the growth of Sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich solid cancers by 60% (Ohtsuka et al., 1973).

Web

George Barron's fungi website has a page on the golden coral.

References

Burt EA.
The North American species of Clavaria with illustrations of the type specimens.
Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 1922 9(1):1-78.

Ohtsuka S, Ueno S, Yoshikumi C, Hirose F, Ohmura Y, Wada T, Fujii T, Takahashi E.
Polysaccharides having an anticarcinogenic effect and a method of producing them from species of Basidiomycetes.
UK Patent 1331513, 26 September 1973.

Petersen RH.
Contribution toward a monograph of Ramaria. I. Some classic species redescribed.
Am J Bot. 1974 61(7):739-748.

Razaq A, Shahzad S.
Ramaria aurea, a new record from Pakistan.
Pakistan J Bot. 2005 37(2):493-4.

 Last modified: 13-Aug-2008