Lentinus ponderosus

Edible, Nice Texture, Moderate Flavor

Lentinus ponderosus

(Giant Sawtooth)

A clump of Lentinus ponderosus probably growing on buried ponderosa wood in fill removed from a water bar.

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Jack S. States indicates in Mushrooms and Truffles of the Southwest that Lentinus ponderosus is commonly found growing on ponderosa pine and that it certainly is. It usually grows on dead ponderosa wood, often stumps. This was the first mushroom I saw in the mountains in the dreadfully dry summer of 2000. My girlfriend at the time found a very dry one in the stump of a ponderosa pine. I figured that it was probably left from the year before (they tend to dry on their own quite naturally and can keep in that state without deterioration for quite a while).

This species was also the first mushroom I found in the mountains in the summer of 2001, which caused me to wonder about the presumption the previous year's find had been from the year before. The soil was extremely dry when I found these and I had been up on top of the mountain hoping it would have rained there, but from all appearances it had not done so recently and I found no mushrooms at all. I was driving back down the mountain along a gravel road when I spied what appeared to be fresh mushrooms growing on a mound of dirt by a drainage ditch about ten feet off the road. I stopped and checked them out. They were Lentinus ponderosus and quite fresh despite the fact the surface of the soil showed no indication of any moisture content. I presume they were emerging from some piece of ponderosa pine wood that had been buried in digging out the drainage ditch as this is not a terrestrial species. This species has a lengthy stalk up to 8 or 9 inches and can emerge from wood buried fairly deep. My guess is that although the surface soil was dusty at best there may have been substantially more moisture content at the depth these mushrooms emerged from. It is sufficient to say that two years running I have found this species when no other mushrooms were fruiting.

This species is apparently restricted to western North America, unlike its relatives such as Lentinus edodes (the shiitake or oak mushroom) which is asiatic in origin but now cultivated worldwide and Lentinus lepideus (the train wrecker, so called because it destroys railroad ties) which seems to occur naturally nearly worldwide.

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Recipes on the Web - Links to recipes for this species on the web (in many languages)

Lentinus ponderosus is normally not terrestrial so I presume there was ponderosa wood buried under this material.

The following information and links are compiled by B.W. Freyburger of Gallup, New Mexico, who often collects fungi when he can find some during the late summer and fall in the mountains near there. Please notify him of persistently dead links, additional links regarding this species, or errors in information or links herein through email by clicking on his name above. This site contains links to other sites which are not authored by or controlled by the webmaster of this site. Unfortunately these sites sometimes diasppear or or are reorganized or moved leaving the link nonfunctional. I try to check for dead links and update or remove them as often as possible. Information, recipes, photographs, illustrations, and other material on these sites is likely subject to copyright protection. Please respect the legal rights of persons creating this material. This site also utilizes some clip art obtained from sources which identified it as public domain or authorized for use on non-commercial sites. If you notice any material on this site which you believe to be used in violation of copyright laws please notify the webmaster immediately. Some clip art appearing here is original. All original material contained on this page not otherwise copyrighted is ©2001 by B.W. Freyburger. All rights reserved.

Note coating of white spores left on top of lower mushrooms by removed top mushroom.

There is a saying in German that translates roughly as "All mushrooms are edible, but some kinds only once." Put another way, there are old mushroom hunters and there are bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old bold mushroom hunters.

Don't overdo it. Most adverse reactions I have had to wild mushrooms have usually been tied to over-consumption. Most of all, if you aren't absolutely sure what it is, it is generally wiser not to eat it. When in doubt throw it out.

Long cooking is recommended for this mushroom that some use a substitute for its relative, the shiitake. It is said by some to be reminiscent of matsutakes. The flavor is not strong but mushroomy and slightly woodsy. The flavor is not as intense as shiitakes, but somewhat similar. It is pleasant enough but could be easily overwhelmed. This is no chanterelle or morel, but since it is often very large and can be found when there are few other mushrooms around it is probably worth getting to know. The mushroom's texture is definitely on the chewy side, even after long cooking, not unlike reconstituted shiitakes. The texture may be its best feature. It is definitely a solid chewy mushroom that would retain its texture even after considerable stewing. If you want something less chewy thin slicing might be appropriate.

On storing Lentinus ponderosus: Lentinus ponderosus often dries itself in the wild and will stay well preserved in that state for a very long time. Very long cooking is suggested for dried specimens.