Schizophyllum commune

Description

Schizophyllum commune is a species of fungus in the genus Schizophyllum. The fruit body is a structure of compressed radiate cupules. What appears to be gills are the margins of two adjacent cupules with proliferating marginal tissue, which makes it appear that the "gill" is split. The caps are white or grayish with hairs, without stems. Grows on sickly hardwood trees but is equally common on dead wood.

The splits in the gills are close over the fertile surfaces as the fruit body shrivels during prolonged dry weather, rehydrating when moistened by rain; then the splits reopen, the spore-producing surfaces are exposed to the air, and spores are released.

This mushroom can survive several cycles of dehydration and rehydration. This feature enables fungi to live on every continent except Antarctica.

Schizophyllum commune has medicinal value and an aromatic taste profile.

Common names: Common Porecrust, Waaiertje (Netherlands), Klanolístka obecná (Czech Republic), Le schizophylle commun (France).

Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   1–5 cm across; fan-shaped when attached to the side of the log; irregular to shell-shaped when attached above or below; finely hairy to velvety or almost granular; dry; whitish to grayish or brownish; sometimes developing concentric textural zones.

2. Gills

   Distant; folded together and appearing split down the middle; whitish to grayish.

3. Stem

   Absent.

4. Flesh

   Tough; whitish; not changing when sliced.

5. Spore Print

   White.

6. Season

   January to November.

7. Habitat

   Saprobic on deadwood or occasionally parasitic on living wood; growing alone or, more frequently, gregariously to clustered; on decaying hardwood sticks and logs (even on planks and boards); year-round (it survives by shriveling up and waiting for more moisture); originally described and named from Sweden; widely distributed in North America and throughout the world.

8. Microscopic Features

   Spores 4–6.5 x 1.5–2 µm; subcylindric or subellipsoid; smooth; hyaline in KOH; inamyloid. Hymenial cystidia not found. Pileipellis a cutis of elements 2.5–5 µm wide, sometimes aggregated into upright bundles. Clamp connections present.

9. Similar Species

   Plicaturopsis crispa is smaller, finely hairy, and does not have a cap with a curled edge.

Schizophyllum commune Edible

Although European and US guidebooks list it as inedible, this is apparently due to differing standards of taste rather than known toxicity, being regarded with little culinary interest due to its tough texture. S. commune is, in fact, edible and widely consumed in Mexico and elsewhere in the tropics.

In Northeast India, in the state Manipur it is known as kanglayen and one of the favorite ingredients for Manipuri-style pancakes called paaknam. In Mizoram, the local name is pasi (pa means mushroom, si means tiny) and it is one of the highest-rated edible mushrooms among the Mizo community. The authors explain the preference for tough, rubbery mushrooms in the tropics as a consequence of the fact that tender, fleshy mushrooms quickly rot in the hot humid conditions there, making their marketing problematic.

Health Benefits

1. Anti-Cancer

   Sizofilan (SPG), a simple glucan produced in a culture medium by Schizophyllum commune Feries, was used as an assistant immunotherapy in 15 patients with head and neck cancer.

   Immunological parameters showed that the SPG group quickly recovered the cellular immunity damaged by radiation, chemotherapy and surgical procedure. SPG was found to be effective as an assistant immunotherapeutic agent in the treatment of head and neck.

   Source

2. Anti-Tumor

   A neutral glucan isolated from the culture filtrate of Schizophyllum commune, on the production of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and interleukin 2 (IL 2) from the mitogen-stimulated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC).

   These results suggest that the increased production of IFN-γ and IL 2 may be responsible for the anti-tumor activity of this glucan.

   Source

3. Antioxidative

   Antioxidant properties of hot water extract (HWE), hot water extracted polysaccharides (HWP) and hot alkali extracted polysaccharides (HWAE) were obtained from fruiting bodies of the wild basidiomycete Schizophyllum commune.

   The EC50 values of the antioxidant activity, of the DPPH scavenging, and of the reducing power were correlated with total polysaccharide as well as with total phenol content. The antioxidant activities of all the extracts may be caused by both polysaccharides and polyphenols or by a complex of both.

   Source

History

In 1815 Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries described this species and named it Schizophyllum commune.

Schizophyllum is derived from the Greek "Schíza" meaning split because of the appearance of radial, centrally split, gill-like folds; commune means common or shared ownership or ubiquitous

Synonyms and Varieties

• Agaricus alneus L. , Fl. Suec. : 1242 (1755)

• Agaricus alneus Reichard, Schr. naturf. Fr. Berlin: 605 (1780)

• Agaricus multifidus Batsch, Elench. fung. (Halle): 173 (1786)

• Apus alneus (L.) Gray, Nat. Arr. Brit. Pl. (London) 1: 617 (1821)

• Daedalea commune (Fr.) P. Kumm. , Führ. Pilzk. (Zerbst): 53 (1871)

• Merulius alneus (L.) J. F. Gmel. , Systema Naturae, Edn 13 2(2): 1431 (1792)

• Merulius alneus (Reichard) Schumach. (1803)

• Merulius alneus Schumach. , Enum. pl. (Kjbenhavn) 2: 370 (1803)

• Merulius communis (Fr.) Spirin & Zmitr. , Nov. sist. Niz. Rast. 37: 182 (2004)

• Scaphophorum agaricoides Ehrenb. , Horae Phys. Berol. : 94 (1820)

• Schizophyllum alneum (L.) J. Schröt. , in Cohn, Krypt. -Fl. Schlesien (Breslau) 3. 1(33–40): 553 (1889)

• Schizophyllum alneum (L.) J. Schröt. (1889)

• Schizophyllum alneum (L.) J. Schröt. (1889) f. alneum

• Schizophyllum alneum (Reichard) Kuntze (1898)

• Schizophyllum alneum f. radiatum Pilát, Ann. Acad. tchecosl. Agric. 2: 461 (1936)

• Schizophyllum alneum J.Schröt. (1889)

• Schizophyllum alneum Kuntze, Revis. gen. pl. (Leipzig) 3(2): 516 (1898)

• Schizophyllum commune f. stipitatum L. Krieg. , Mycologia 14(1): 47 (1922)

• Schizophyllum commune Fr. , Observ. mycol. (Havniae) 1: 103 (1815) var.commune

• Schizophyllum commune var. longii Parisi, Bulletino dell'orto Botanico della R. Universitá di Napoli 13: 3 (1934)

• Schizophyllum commune var. multifidum (Batsch) Cooke, Handb. Austral. fungi: 101 (1892)

• Schizophyllum commune var. palmatum Debeaux, Revue mycol. , Toulouse 2: 152 (1880)

• Schizophyllum multifidum (Batsch) Fr. , J. Linn. Soc. , Bot. 14(no. 73): 46 (1875) [1873]

• Schizophyllum multifidum (Batsch) Fr. (1875) var. multifidum

• Schizophyllum multifidum var. digitatum Ellis & T. Macbr. , Bull. Lab. Nat. Hist. Iowa State Univ. 3(4): 194 (1896)

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