Umbrella polyporePolyporus umbellatus

The umbrella polypore (Polyporus umbellatus, synonyms — Grifola umbellata, Dendropolyporus umbellatus) is a rare and valuable edible and medicinal mushroom with a distinctive large, bushy fruiting body made up of many (50-200) small caps on a shared branching stem. The Latin epithet umbellatus means "umbrella-like" — a nod to the cluster's many small caps, like little umbrellas. The whole cluster measures 20-50 cm across, the fruiting body weighs up to 3-4 kg (individual giants reach 10 kg!).

In Ukraine it is listed in the Red Data Book (category "vulnerable"). Picking it in the wild is not recommended; if you find one, photograph it for iNaturalist UA and leave it to grow. Its decline is linked to the felling of old oak and beech forests (its usual habitat) and pressure from foragers (because of its high culinary and medicinal value).

A superb edible mushroom of excellent culinary quality — the flesh is tender, with a pleasant mushroomy taste and no bitterness. It is cooked like porcini: fried, stewed, pickled, dried. No need to boil first. Young ones are especially tasty (old ones get tough and lose their aroma).

Medicinal use — in traditional Chinese medicine it is known as "Zhū Líng" (猪苓) — "pig mushroom" — and has been used for millennia: diuretic, antitumor, immunomodulating. Modern research confirms the presence of polysaccharides with antitumor potential; in Japan it is used in combination therapy for hepatitis B and some cancers (as a dietary supplement, not instead of standard treatment). In folk medicine — for treating edema and hepatitis.

Key features of Polyporus umbellatus: Large (20-50 cm) bushy fruiting body made of 50-200 small caps Caps 1-4 cm across, each with a central stem Shared branching stem at the base Caps gray-brown, ochre-brown Underside of the caps — fine white pores (a polypore) Flesh pure white, brittle Pleasant mushroomy smell with a hint of flour Grows near the trunks of old oaks and beeches from a sclerotium in the soil

A distinctive feature: the mushroom grows from an underground sclerotium (a potato-like mass of mycelium) that can live for decades and fruit from time to time. This makes the species long-lived — a single sclerotium can fruit for 30-50 years.

In Ukraine, Polyporus umbellatus is rare, known from a few dozen sites: mainly in old beech and oak forests of the Carpathians, Prykarpattia and western Podillia, less often in Polissia. Season: July — September.