Kew scientists solve 245-year mix-up over medicinal lingzhi mushroom

Scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and international collaborators have clarified the difference between Ganoderma lucidum, a European bracket fungus described in 1781, and Ganoderma lingzhi, the East Asian species linked to medicinal lingzhi or reishi. Their study, published in Plants, People, Planet, tackles a naming confusion that has persisted for about 245 years.