Velvet Shank

This is the Velvet Shank, or Flammulina velutipes.

This is a typical species of late autumn throughout the winter. It is a remarkable species since it has its own built in antifreeze and can go through frosts unfazed and resume dropping spores immediately afterwards. Indeed, its growth and spore production are stimulated by cold.

It is said that eating Flammulina would help in lowering cholesterol and blood pressure and would result in an increases of resistance. Recently scientists isolated Proflamine from the mycelium which, on the basis of epidemiological research, is believed it could play a role in the prevention of cancer.

The cultivars of this Flammulina are the well known and edible Enokitake.