Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessellatus)
Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus)
Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) is a white-rot saprotrophic fungus native to the temperate hardwood forests of East Asia and North America, commercially produced at industrial scale and sold. Its firm, crunchy texture, mild umami flavor, and a remarkable suite of bioactive compounds — including ribosome-inactivating proteins, beta-glucans, and the highest recorded lovastatin content of any edible mushroom — have made it both a culinary staple and an active subject of laboratory research. Despite appearances on supermarket shelves across four continents, the Beech Mushroom is still scientifically underexplored: no controlled human clinical trials have been published on any of its proposed health effects.
Hypsizygus tessulatus (Bull.) Singer, 1947 — Lyophyllaceae — Agaricales
Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) is the brown clamshell mushroom sold in tightly clustered packages at Asian grocery stores and an increasing number of mainstream supermarkets across North America and Europe. Known in Japan as buna-shimeji (ブナシメジ), it grows in dense bunches on dead hardwood — beech, maple, and aspen are its primary wild substrates — and has been commercially cultivated in Japan since the early 1970s, displacing oyster mushrooms to become the country's most-consumed specialty mushroom. Its distinctive field mark is a dry, smooth cap with subtle translucent watery streaks or patches, combined with a strongly bitter taste that vanishes completely upon cooking.
Interested in this species? Out-Grow carries a liquid culture.
What Is the Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus)?
The Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) is a gilled basidiomycete (spore-bearing fungus that produces its spores on club-shaped cells called basidia) in the family Lyophyllaceae, a group that also includes enoki (Flammulina velutipes) and the true hon-shimeji (Lyophyllum shimeji). The genus name Hypsizygus derives from Greek meaning "high yoke," a reference to the way the gills attach near the top of the stipe. The species epithet tessulatus means "tiled" or "checked pattern," describing the mottled, marbled appearance that gives the brown strain its distinctive look.
Unlike many celebrated edible mushrooms, the Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) does not form partnerships with living tree roots (that would make it mycorrhizal). It is a pure saprotroph — it obtains all nutrition by enzymatically dismantling dead or dying hardwood, particularly lignin. This distinction is commercially decisive: it means the species can be cultivated in an enclosed facility on artificial substrates without any living host, making full fruiting body production entirely achievable for hobbyists and commercial operations alike.
Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) fruiting bodies contain more lovastatin — an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor used pharmaceutically to lower cholesterol — than any other edible mushroom tested in comparative analysis: 628 mg per kilogram of dry weight. For context, oyster mushrooms, which are well-known for their statin content, produce a fraction of that amount. The ecological reason for this unusually high lovastatin concentration in H. tessulatus has never been formally investigated.
The name confusion surrounding this species is substantial and worth understanding upfront. "Shimeji" is an umbrella term covering roughly 20 different mushroom species in Japanese retail — the Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) is the commercial buna-shimeji, while a white albino cultivar (bunapi-shimeji) is a patented UV-induced mutant developed by Hokuto Corporation. The separate species Lyophyllum shimeji is the "true" hon-shimeji of traditional Japanese cuisine — a mycorrhizal species that cannot be conventionally cultivated. Retail packages labeled "hon shimeji" are almost always H. tessulatus.
A spelling note: Hypsizygus tessulatus (single-l, single-t) is the accepted orthography per Index Fungorum. The misspelling Hypsizygus tessellatus (double-l, double-t) appears widely across vendor websites, food publications, and databases — including Out-Grow's own product pages. Both spellings refer to the same species; the misspelling carries real search volume, suggesting the confusion is endemic to the industry.
How Is Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) Classified?
| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Fungi |
| Phylum | Basidiomycota |
| Class | Agaricomycetes |
| Order | Agaricales |
| Family | Lyophyllaceae |
| Genus | Hypsizygus Singer, 1947 |
| Species | Hypsizygus tessulatus (Bull.) Singer, 1947 |
The basionym (original description) is Agaricus tessulatus Bulliard, 1791 — Bulliard, a French botanist, first described the species from European collections. Rolf Singer transferred it to the new genus Hypsizygus in 1947. Along the way it passed through Pleurotus tessulatus (Persoon, 1874) and Pleurocybella tessulata (Moser, 1955), each reflecting a different era's understanding of how gilled wood-decay fungi relate to one another. The Index Fungorum registration ID is 287202; the NCBI Taxonomy ID is 234819.
The most significant ongoing nomenclatural issue concerns Hypsizygus marmoreus (Peck) H.E. Bigelow, 1976 — a North American name based on Peck's 1871 collection. Index Fungorum and Species Fungorum now treat H. tessulatus and H. marmoreus as the same species, with H. tessulatus taking nomenclatural priority because Bulliard's 1791 publication predates Peck's. ITS sequence analyses by Bellanger et al. (2015) went further, suggesting the entire genus — including H. ulmarius (elm oyster) — may represent a single worldwide species. The practical consequence for cultivators and researchers: the vast majority of peer-reviewed scientific literature on cultivation biology and chemistry uses the name Hypsizygus marmoreus. This dossier uses H. tessulatus as the accepted name and cross-references H. marmoreus throughout.
Some older literature and vendor sources place this species in Tricholomataceae (sensu lato) — this is an outdated classification that has been subsumed into Lyophyllaceae in modern treatments.
How Do You Identify Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus)?
The definitive field marks for Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) are the clustered growth habit (15–50 individuals per cluster in cultivation, fewer in the wild), the dry smooth cap with characteristic watery translucent spots or streaks when fresh, and the strongly bitter raw taste. The gills are adnate to slightly notched (sinuate) at the stipe apex, close, white to cream, and do not change color. The flesh is firm and white and does not bruise. In cultivated forms, the stipe is often elongated due to elevated CO₂ in enclosed growing rooms — this is characteristic of, not a defect in, commercially produced specimens.
Under the microscope, the spores of H. tessulatus are subglobose and measure 4–5 µm — notably smaller than those of H. ulmarius (5.5–6 µm). Clamp connections are present on the hyphae, a character of taxonomic significance within Lyophyllaceae. No hymenial cystidia (sterile cells in the gill layer) are found, another differentiating feature.
Key Lookalike Species
Hypsizygus ulmarius (Elm Oyster)
Edible and safe, but taxonomically distinct. Larger spores (5.5–6 µm vs. 4–5 µm), typically grows singly rather than clustered, prefers elm and box elder over beech and maple, and lacks the characteristic watery cap spots. Molecular evidence suggests the two may be one species.
Hypsizygus marmoreus
Now considered the same species under modern taxonomy. No practical differentiation needed in cultivation or culinary contexts. Most Asian scientific literature uses this name.
Lyophyllum shimeji (True Hon-Shimeji)
Edible but mycorrhizal — grows with living trees, not dead wood. Lacks watery cap spots. Rarely confused in practice because it cannot be commercially cultivated. Retail "hon shimeji" is almost always H. tessulatus.
Wild Hypsizygus spp.
Multiple North American collections attributed to H. tessulatus on maple and aspen share its cluster habit and small spores. ITS barcoding alone is insufficient to distinguish within this complex. Treat ITS-only identifications as provisional.
ITS (Internal Transcribed Spacer) barcoding — the standard molecular ID method for fungi — cannot reliably distinguish Hypsizygus tessulatus from H. ulmarius, and may not separate it from H. marmoreus given recent molecular evidence. Accurate identification within this genus requires either additional markers (LSU, RPB2, multi-locus analysis), spore measurements, or both. Researchers relying solely on ITS BLAST matches should treat identifications within the Hypsizygus complex as provisional.
Where Does Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) Grow?
Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) is a white-rot saprotroph (an organism that breaks down dead organic matter, specifically attacking lignin — the tough structural polymer in wood — rather than cellulose) on hardwoods. It fruits from dead or dying trees, never from soil or living hosts. Wild collections in East Asia and Europe are most commonly found on beech (Fagus spp.), which is the origin of its primary common name. In North America, wild collections attributed to H. tessulatus by Redhead (1986) are more commonly found on maple (Acer spp., especially sugar maple) and aspen or cottonwood (Populus spp.).
| Region | Primary Substrate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| East Asia / Europe | Beech (Fagus) | Origin of common name; natural range |
| North America (East) | Maple, aspen, cottonwood | Most common wild substrates per Redhead 1986 |
| Cultivation (global) | Hardwood sawdust (beech, oak, maple) | Supplemented with wheat bran, rice bran |
Wild Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) fruits in autumn, associated with cool temperatures and the senescence of hardwood trees. Cultivated production eliminates seasonality entirely through temperature control. The geographic range spans temperate East Asia (Japan, China, Korea), temperate Europe, and much of eastern and northern North America, with cultivated or introduced populations on multiple continents. iNaturalist records (taxa/499736) document wild collections from all three primary native regions.
Conservation status for Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) is not a concern globally — the species is produced at massive commercial scale. Regional listings of note include Data Deficient (DD) in the Czech Republic and Vulnerable (VU) in Latvia on national red lists, reflecting insufficient local population data rather than any global decline trend.
Can You Cultivate Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus)?
Yes — Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) is fully cultivable to fruiting body and has been commercially produced at industrial scale since the early 1970s. Takara Shuzou, a Japanese shochu (distilled spirit) producer, developed the first commercial cultivation process in Nagano Prefecture. The species has since become Japan's dominant specialty mushroom, with production volumes that have essentially eliminated domestic oyster mushroom cultivation — oyster mushrooms now represent less than 1% of Japanese mushroom production. However, H. tessulatus presents one fundamental challenge that makes it significantly harder for hobbyists than oyster mushrooms: an exceptionally long cultivation cycle driven by a mandatory physiological after-ripening phase.
The total time from inoculation to harvest is 130–150 days — far longer than oyster mushrooms (3–4 weeks) or shiitake (60–90 days). The bottleneck is an obligatory after-ripening period of 60–90 days after mycelial colonization appears complete. During this phase, the substrate undergoes physiological maturation (arginine biosynthesis, citrate cycle flux changes, pH oscillations) before fruiting competence develops. Skipping or shortening this phase produces no fruiting, regardless of how healthy the mycelium looks.
Substrate
Commercial Japanese bottle cultivation uses hardwood sawdust (typically beech and cedar mixed) supplemented with ground corn cob, rice bran, wheat bran, and dried tofu lees (okara), in an 850 ml bottle. Substrate water content at filling is 66–70%. For hobbyist bag cultivation, supplemented hardwood sawdust (oak, maple, beech preferred) with 10–20% wheat or rice bran is appropriate. A 2024 metabolomics study confirmed that sawdust addition to culture medium significantly increased mycelial growth rate, density, and nutritional content relative to unsupplemented basal media.
Cultivation Parameters
Colonization (Phase 1)
21–25°C, 65% humidity, dark, CO₂ up to 4,500 ppm. Duration: ~35–40 days to full visible colonization of a standard block.
After-Ripening (Phase 2)
Continue at 21–25°C. This phase lasts an additional 60–90 days. The mycelium appears done but is not yet physiologically ready to fruit. Do not rush this phase.
Fruiting Trigger
Drop temperature to 14–15°C. Increase FAE (fresh air exchange) to bring CO₂ below 2,000 ppm. Boost humidity to near 100%.
Light Requirement
12-hour light/dark cycle. Blue LED at 475 nm is optimal (peer-reviewed). 500–1,000 lux in 15–30 minute exposures. Red LED causes abnormal stipe elongation.
Harvest
Pinning to harvest takes 20–22 days under optimal fruiting conditions. Commercial bottle yields average ~220 g per 850 ml bottle. Harvest clusters intact before caps flatten.
Contamination Risk
Trichoderma (green mold) is the primary threat. The species' slow colonization rate gives mold more time to establish. Maintain rigorous sterility through the full 80–120 day pre-fruiting window.
Some vendors list incubation times of 12–14 days, which reflects only the initial colonization assessment phase, not biological readiness including after-ripening. A 12–14 day incubation is inconsistent with the peer-reviewed literature documenting 80–120 days required for full physiological after-ripening. Growers following short timelines without proper after-ripening should not expect reliable fruiting.
About This Liquid Culture
Out-Grow's Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) liquid culture contains actively growing mycelium suspended in sterile nutrient solution. Liquid culture provides fast, even inoculation coverage — the industry standard for commercial Japanese bottle operations, which use liquid spawn rather than grain spawn in most industrial facilities.
From liquid culture, you can inoculate grain spawn jars, supplemented sawdust blocks, or agar plates for clone verification. Once substrate colonization is complete, the substrate enters the after-ripening phase. Mycelial biomass from this liquid culture is also suitable for research, enzyme studies, and polysaccharide or bioactive compound extraction without fruiting bodies.
H. tessulatus mycelium in liquid culture appears white, dense, and plumose (feather-like). Optimal liquid culture growth occurs at 20–25°C with sucrose as the preferred carbon source and CaNO₃ as the preferred nitrogen source. The species grows slower in liquid media than oyster mushrooms or shiitake — this is normal and expected.
Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) Liquid CultureWhat Bioactive Compounds Does Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) Contain?
Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) is among the most chemically studied edible mushrooms. Its fruiting body contains polysaccharides (complex carbohydrates), ribosome-inactivating proteins, immunomodulatory proteins, terpenoids, statins, indole compounds, and a distinctive volatile profile. All bioactivity data reviewed here is from in vitro (cell culture) or in vivo (animal model) studies — no human clinical trials have been published.
Beta-Glucans
Animal ModelA β-(1→3)-glucan with β-(1→6) branches is the primary bioactive polysaccharide. In mouse models, isolated glucans showed inhibitory activity against Sarcoma 180 (1992) and Lewis lung carcinoma with significant life-span extension (1997). Polysaccharide content ranges from 0.3–5.5% of dry weight depending on extraction method.
Hypsin (RIP Protein)
In VitroA 20 kDa thermostable ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP — an enzyme that blocks protein synthesis). Antifungal against Botrytis cinerea (IC₅₀ 0.06 µM) and other fungi. Inhibits HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (IC₅₀ 8 µM). Translation inhibition IC₅₀: 7 nM in rabbit reticulocyte lysate.
Marmorin (RIP Protein)
In VitroA 9,567 Da ribosome-inactivating protein. Inhibits proliferation of HepG2 hepatoma cells (IC₅₀ 0.15 µM) and MCF-7 breast cancer cells (IC₅₀ 5 µM). Unlike hypsin, devoid of antifungal activity. Translation IC₅₀: 0.7 nM.
FIP-hma
In VitroA novel fungal immunomodulatory protein (FIP) discovered in 2023 with a cerato-platanin domain — phylogenetically distinct from all other known FIPs. Upregulates iNOS, IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α in macrophage cultures. No cytotoxicity detected in MTT assay.
Lovastatin
In Vitro628 mg/kg dry weight — the highest lovastatin content among all 19 mushroom species tested in a 2012 comparative study (Lo et al.). Lovastatin is an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor used pharmaceutically to lower cholesterol. Clinical relevance at dietary doses is unknown.
ACE-Inhibitory Peptide
Animal ModelDecapeptide LSMGSASLSP (567.3 Da) isolated from brown fruiting bodies. ACE-inhibitory IC₅₀: 0.19 mg/mL. Showed antihypertensive effect in spontaneously hypertensive rats at 800 mg/kg oral dose — similar kinetics to captopril.
Indole Compounds
In VitroMycelial in vitro cultures contain L-tryptophan, 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan (5-HTP), tryptamine, 5-methyltryptamine, and melatonin. Zinc and magnesium ion supplementation in culture medium affects indole compound levels.
Hypsiziprenol A9
In VitroA sesquiterpene (terpenoid compound with 15 carbons) produced by H. marmoreus. Inhibits cell cycle progression in HepG2 human liver cancer cells. The genome contains four terpene synthase genes from different phylogenetic clades.
The volatile (aromatic) compound profile of Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) is also well-characterized. White strain fruiting bodies are dominated by 1-octen-3-ol (the "mushroom alcohol"), 3-octanone, and (E)-2-nonenal — the eight-carbon C8 compounds that give most edible mushrooms their characteristic aroma. Brown strain analysis identified 2,3,6-trimethylpyridine as the most abundant volatile (42.5% of total), a compound atypical for mushrooms and likely responsible for its distinctive savory-herbal character. The species is frequently described as having a "seafood" or "crab" aroma in Chinese trade literature, but no peer-reviewed GC-MS study has identified the specific compound(s) responsible for this seafood character — it remains an open research question.
Is Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) Safe to Eat?
Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) is one of the most widely consumed mushrooms on Earth — produced at multi-thousand-ton scale in Japan, China, and Korea, and eaten by millions of people annually without documented adverse effects. No specific toxins have been identified in the published literature, and no toxin-related poisoning cases have been reported. It is an unreservedly edible species when cooked.
The one firm culinary rule: always cook it before eating. Raw Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) has a strongly bitter taste that is uniformly described in both culinary and scientific literature. This bitterness disappears completely upon cooking. The raw bitterness is not attributed to any identified toxin in the published literature, but it is an unpleasant eating experience, and standard mycological practice is to cook all H. tessulatus before consumption.
The presence of hypsin and marmorin — ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs, enzymes that block protein synthesis) — in the fruiting body warrants a note. Dietary consumption of proteins, including RIPs, does not necessarily equate to systemic toxicity, because proteins are digested in the gastrointestinal tract. Hypsin is described as thermostable, but its actual dietary toxicity at culinary doses has not been established. No adverse effects from these proteins have been documented in the published literature at normal consumption quantities.
Given the unusually high lovastatin content (628 mg/kg DW), individuals taking pharmaceutical HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor drugs (statins such as atorvastatin, rosuvastatin, simvastatin) should be aware of theoretically additive effects. Dietary doses from typical mushroom consumption are far below pharmaceutical statin doses, making this a theoretical concern rather than a documented clinical interaction. Individuals on statin therapy who consume large quantities of H. tessulatus may wish to consult their physician.
What Makes Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) Remarkable?
Several features of Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) are genuinely unusual among edible mushrooms — not just commercially interesting, but biologically distinctive in ways that set it apart from any other widely cultivated species.
The After-Ripening Mystery
The obligatory after-ripening period — during which visually colonized mycelium undergoes 60–90 days of further physiological maturation before becoming capable of fruiting — is among the most biologically unusual features of any commercially cultivated mushroom. The molecular underpinning has only recently begun to be characterized: a 2022 multi-omics study found that arginine biosynthesis, citrate cycle flux changes, and pH oscillations are key correlates of the transition to fruiting competence. Exogenous addition of citric acid and arginine shortened post-ripening by 10 days and increased yield by 10.2–15.5%. Understanding and shortening this phase without yield loss is among the highest-value unsolved problems in H. tessulatus cultivation science.
Blue Light–Dependent Morphogenesis
Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) fruiting body development is quantitatively dependent on blue light at 475 nm. A 2013 peer-reviewed study (Jang et al.) demonstrated that blue LED treatment produced optimal pileus diameter, cap thickness, and commercial yield, while red LED produced abnormally elongated stipes. The underlying mechanism involves blue-light photoreceptors linked to MAPK and cAMP signaling pathways identified in transcriptome analysis — making H. tessulatus a model system for studying light-dependent development in Basidiomycota.
Commercial Dominance of an Entire National Mushroom Industry
In Japan — the world's second-largest mushroom producer — Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) has essentially displaced domestic oyster mushroom production. Oyster mushrooms now represent less than 1% of total Japanese mushroom production. The reasons for this dominance: 14-day shelf life versus oyster mushroom fragility, superior texture for traditional stewed dishes, and higher yield per bottle in the Japanese industrial bottle-cultivation system. No other edible mushroom has so thoroughly displaced a previously dominant species within a single national market.
Antifungal Volatile Compounds
Culture filtrates and mycelia of H. marmoreus produce a volatile compound called HTI (1-hydroxy-2,4,4-trimethylpentan-3-yl isobutyrate) that inhibits Alternaria brassicicola mycelial growth by 60% and conidial (spore) germination by 100%, and inhibits lesion formation on detached cabbage leaves by 94% — suggesting potential as a biological crop-protection agent derived from mycelial fermentation cultures. This application is entirely independent of fruiting body production.
Highest Recorded Lovastatin in Any Edible Mushroom
The 628 mg/kg dry weight lovastatin concentration documented in H. marmoreus fruiting bodies exceeds that of all other edible mushrooms tested, including oyster mushrooms and reishi, which are more commonly associated with statin content in the scientific literature. The ecological reason — why this species accumulates lovastatin at concentrations that surpass all competitors — has never been formally investigated. Lovastatin is known to have antifungal activity, suggesting a competitive defense function, but this remains speculative for H. tessulatus specifically.
Frequently Asked Questions About Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus)
Is beech mushroom the same as shimeji?
Partly. "Shimeji" is an umbrella term in Japanese that covers roughly 20 different mushroom species. The commercial buna-shimeji sold in grocery stores worldwide is Hypsizygus tessulatus — the Beech Mushroom. A white albino cultivar called bunapi-shimeji is the same species with a genetically fixed white cap. The "true" hon-shimeji of traditional Japanese cuisine is a different species, Lyophyllum shimeji, which is mycorrhizal and cannot be conventionally cultivated.
Why does beech mushroom taste bitter when raw?
Raw Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) has a characteristically strong bitter taste that is consistently documented in both scientific literature and culinary sources. The specific compound(s) responsible have not been identified in published analytical chemistry. The bitterness disappears completely upon cooking, and no toxin has been associated with it. Always cook this species before eating — it is unpleasant raw and all culinary applications call for cooked preparation.
How long does it take to grow beech mushrooms from liquid culture?
Plan for 130–150 days total from inoculation to first harvest. This breaks down into approximately 35–40 days of active mycelial colonization, followed by a mandatory after-ripening phase of 60–90 additional days before fruiting competence develops, then 20–22 days from fruiting trigger to harvest. The after-ripening phase cannot be skipped. Vendors who list 12–14 day incubation times are describing only the initial colonization assessment, not biological readiness for fruiting.
Is Hypsizygus tessulatus the same as Hypsizygus marmoreus?
Under current taxonomy, yes. Index Fungorum and Species Fungorum treat H. marmoreus as a synonym of H. tessulatus, with H. tessulatus taking nomenclatural priority because Bulliard's 1791 description predates Peck's 1871 description of the North American material. Most peer-reviewed scientific literature — particularly from Asia where most cultivation research originates — uses the name H. marmoreus. The two names refer to the same organism.
What is the best light for growing beech mushrooms?
Blue LED light at 475 nm is optimal for Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) fruiting body development, supported by peer-reviewed evidence. A 12-hour light/dark cycle at 500–1,000 lux with 15–30 minute exposure periods is commercially effective. Red LED light produces abnormally elongated stipes and lower yield. During the spawn run and after-ripening phases, dark conditions are appropriate.
What substrate works best for beech mushroom cultivation?
Hardwood sawdust — beech, maple, or oak — is the primary carbon source used in both commercial and hobbyist cultivation of Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus). Wheat bran, rice bran, or soybean hulls as nitrogen supplements at 10–20% of dry substrate weight are standard. Substrate moisture of 70–75% at inoculation is appropriate. Japanese commercial operations use an 850 ml bottle with a mixed hardwood sawdust and multi-component supplement formula that represents decades of optimization; hobbyist bag cultivation on supplemented hardwood sawdust produces comparable results at smaller scale.
Also available as a culture plate from Out-Grow.
Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) Culture Plate