The Chinese have been eating lingzhi, or reishi, mushrooms as medicine for two millennia. However, the most commonly eaten type, known in Chinese as chizhi or red lingzhi, has for a long time mistakenly been considered by people around the world to be the same species as the European glossy ganoderma, whose Latin name is Ganoderma lucidum. After researchers collected some wild red lingzhi from an oak forest near Wuhan in China’s Hubei Province, collaborating researchers in Taiwan and China discovered that red lingzhi was actually a new fungus species that had never been recorded. Accordingly, they have officially named it Ganoderma lingzhi. Their findings have been published in Fungal Diversity, the top international journal of mycology.
Wu Sheng-hua, head of the research project and a fungus expert with the National Museum of Natural Science, says that lingzhi mushrooms belong to the ganoderma genus of the polypore family. Wu says that the annual net output value of lingzhi mushrooms is estimated to be as high as NT$100 billion (US$ 3.34 billion) globally. There are currently more than 100 known species of lingzhi mushrooms, with each species containing somewhat different substances with different effects, so more research needs to be done on them, he says.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
Photo: Huang Mei-chu, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者黃美珠
靈芝在華人用於養生已兩千年歷史，然而，最常食用的「赤芝」，長期被國際誤認為和歐洲的「亮蓋靈芝」同種，且都以「ganoderma lucidum」做為拉丁學名。經過學者前往湖北武漢附近的櫟樹林採集野生赤芝，兩岸合作研究發現「赤芝」竟然是尚未被記錄的新種真菌，因此正式定名為 「ganoderma lingzhi（靈芝的漢語發音）」，研究成果將刊登在國際真菌學術期刊排名第一的《Fungal Diversity》。
負責這項研究的國立自然科學博物館研究員吳聲華說，靈芝為多孔菌的靈芝科，估計每年全球產值高達新台幣一千億元，已知有一百多種不同的靈芝，不同種類靈芝的成份和功效都不盡相同，有待進一步分析。
（自由時報記者胡清暉）
Photo: George Tsorng, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者叢昌瑾
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對話 Dialogue 清清：這個週末你有空嗎？要不要一起去淨灘？ Qīngqīng: Zhège zhōumò nǐ yǒu kòng ma? Yào bú yào yìqǐ qù jìngtān? 華華：淨灘？你為什麼突然想參加這個活動？ Huáhua: Jìngtān? Nǐ wèishéme túrán xiǎng cānjiā zhège huódòng? 清清：因為我看到新聞說，海邊的垃圾越來越多，對海洋生物影響很大。 Qīngqīng: Yīnwèi wǒ kàndào xīnwén shuō, hǎibiān de lèsè yuèláiyuè duō, duì hǎiyáng shēngwù yǐngxiǎng hěn dà. 華華：聽起來很有意義，不過會不會很累啊？ Huáhua: Tīng qǐlái hěn yǒu yìyì, búguò huì bú huì hěn lèi a? 清清：可能會有一點累，可是如果大家一起做，就不會那麼辛苦。 Qīngqīng: Kěnéng huì yǒu yìdiǎn lèi, kěshì rúguǒ dàjiā yìqǐ zuò, jiù bú huì nàme xīnkǔ. 華華：也是，而且做完應該會很有成就感。 Huáhua: Yě shì, érqiě zuò wán yīnggāi huì hěn yǒu chéngjiù gǎn. 清清：對啊！不但可以運動，還可以保護環境。 Qīngqīng: Duì a! Búdàn kěyǐ yùndòng, hái kěyǐ bǎohù huánjìng. 華華：好，那我跟你一起去！算我一份。 Huáhua: Hǎo, nà wǒ gēn nǐ yìqǐ qù! Suàn wǒ yí fèn. 翻譯 Translation Qingqing:
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