● Species profile
Agarikon
Laricifomes officinalis
Photo: Steph Jarvis, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A tall, chalky conk that lives for decades on old-growth conifers in the Pacific Northwest and Europe. The Greek physician Dioscorides wrote about it nearly 2,000 years ago, and modern lab studies show antiviral activity. It's rare in the wild, so choose cultivated sources or skip it.
Historical Use and Context
Agarikon may be the oldest medicinal mushroom on record in the West. The Greek physician Dioscorides described it around 65 CE as a remedy for a long list of ailments, including consumption.
Some Pacific Northwest peoples carved it into guardian figures placed at graves. It grows only on old-growth conifers and is now rare across most of its range.
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