Where does wild lingzhi grow, how much does it cost per jin, and how does it differ from cultivated lingzhi?

Lingzhi, also known as chizhi, hongzhi, danzhi and so on, is a relatively precious medicinal herb, and is deeply loved by people for its effects such as calming the nerves and aiding sleep, enhancing memory, and protecting the liver and detoxifying. At present, many people like to simmer it in soup with other ingredients. So where does wild lingzhi grow? What is its market price per jin? How does it differ from artificially cultivated lingzhi?

1. Where does wild lingzhi grow?

Lingzhi is a well-known medicinal herb both in China and abroad. Those growing in forests are considered the best in quality and the highest in medicinal efficacy. They mainly grow in relatively moist places, on the base of dead wood of various broadleaf trees and on the ground around them, with the stipe attached to underground dead tree roots and decaying wood. At present, some are also grown in artificial greenhouses. About 100 or more species of fungi in the genus Ganoderma are currently known, among which the most widely distributed is chizhi (Ganoderma lucidum), followed by zizhi (Ganoderma sinense), and shushe, songshan lingzhi and baoshuzhi are also used medicinally.

Lingzhi is mainly distributed in the tropical and subtropical zones of Asia, Australia, Africa and the Americas, with a small number distributed in temperate regions. It is commonly distributed in China, with some output in Zhejiang Longquan, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Hebei, Shandong, Anhui Huoshan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and other provinces, among which lingzhi cultivation is relatively concentrated in Zhejiang Longquan, Anhui, and the Tai'an area of Shandong.

2. What is the market price of wild lingzhi per jin?

The price of lingzhi is mainly determined by factors such as its variety, appearance and medicinal properties. For example, danzhi is 116 yuan per jin, pinggai lingzhi is about 80 yuan per jin, zizhi is 180 yuan per jin, heizhi can reach 430 yuan per jin, yunzhi is about 100 yuan per jin, and baoshuzhi is 176 yuan per jin. Of course, the above are only reference prices for some common lingzhi varieties, but more than 200 lingzhi varieties are currently known worldwide.

Among the many lingzhi varieties, the one said to have the highest medicinal efficacy is the “forest lingzhi” that grows in forests. This kind of lingzhi belongs to wild lingzhi. The price of wild lingzhi also depends on variety and appearance. Wild red lingzhi is about 500-1500 yuan per jin, wild purple lingzhi is about 1000-3000 yuan per jin, and wild songshan lingzhi is about 2000 yuan per jin.

3. What is the difference between wild lingzhi and artificially cultivated lingzhi?

1. Difference in shape: Wild lingzhi mostly grows on some kind of dead tree trunk in deep mountain forests, with plenty of weeds and rocks nearby, so wild lingzhi has diverse shapes and varying colors. Cultivated lingzhi comes from cultivation bases, and most have relatively uniform shapes and roughly the same color.

2. Difference in size: There are many wild lingzhi varieties, and their shapes are relatively irregular. Each type of lingzhi has its own characteristics. Cultivated lingzhi generally grows in greenhouses and is often much larger than wild lingzhi, while also being uniform in size and regular in shape.

3. Difference in wormholes: Wild lingzhi all grows in the wild and will certainly encounter insect attacks, so irregular wormholes will be left under the fruiting body. Cultivated lingzhi generally uses pesticides to control insect pests, so there are almost no wormholes.

4. Difference in smell: Wild lingzhi tastes very bitter. Generally speaking, the more bitter it is, the more notable its medicinal efficacy. Moreover, wild lingzhi has no odor. The reason lingzhi bought in pharmacies has an odor is generally because the medicinal materials are mixed together and cause flavor transfer.

5. Difference in grass stems: Wild lingzhi often has natural elements from the wild, mainly because its growing environment is full of weeds, so it is inevitable that grass stems will be tangled with the lingzhi or penetrate through its body.

6. Difference in foot mud: When wild lingzhi is picked, it will certainly carry soil, and the soil is very compact and hard to break apart. At the same time, it is certainly not all collected from one place, so the soil it carries will certainly not be soil from one place.