Pholiota nameko

Scientific classification 

Kingdom: Fungi
Phylum: Basidiomycota
Class: Homobasidiomycetae
Order: Agaricales
Family: Strophariaceae
Genus: Pholiota

General information

Common name(s): Nameko or Namerako (Japanese for "Slimy Mushroom"), Slime Pholiota, Viscid Mushroom

Edibility: Edible

Distribution: This mushroom species is very common in the cool, temperate highlands of China, Taiwan, and throughout the islands of northern Japan.

Description

Pholiota nameko's cap can grow up to 8 cm, showing an hemispheric to convex, and sometimes plane, shape. Its surface is covered with an orangish, glutinous slime, thickly encapsulating the mushroom primordia,thinning as the mushrooms mature. The slime quickly collapses, leaving a viscid and smooth cap. P. nameko's gills are white to yellow, becoming brown with maturity. This mushroom species has a partial veil yellowish, adhering to the upper regions of the stem or along the inside peripheral margin. Its stem grows up to 8 cm in length and it is covered with fibrils and swelled near the base.

Natural habitat: This mushroom usually growa on broad-leaf hardwood stumps and logs in the temperate forests of Asia, especially deciduous oaks and beech (Fagus crenata).


Use in medicine

• water and sodium hydroxide extracts are 60% and 90% effective, respectively, against Sarcoma 180 implanted in white mice

• resistance to infection by Staphylococcus bacteria is substantially improved

Preparation and Cooking: Pholiota nameko is easily diced into miniature cubes and can be used in a wide variety of menus, from stir fries to miso soups. Once the glutinous slime is cooked away, the mushroom becomes quite appetizing, having a crunchy and nutty/mushroomy flavor.

Sources:
- Stamets, Paul (2000). Growing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms.