The health giving properties of shiitake mushrooms have been prized in traditional Chinese medicine for over 6,000 years. The Asian fungi were mentioned in some of the earliest medical texts known for their health-giving properties. The Chinese believe that shiitake are more like animals than plants, and are even thought to have a social aspect to their lives. They do not grow wild in the USA, and are native only to parts of Asia, but have been cultivated in the US extensively in the past ...(more)