Lanmaoa asiatica is a species of bolete mushroom of the family Boletaceae. It is reddish in color[1] and an ectomycorrhizal symbiote of the Yunnan Pine, Pinus yunnanensis. It is notable for causing lilliputian hallucinations when eaten raw. It is considered a choice wild edible[clarification needed][1] mushroom in Yunnan (southwestern China) and[2] the northern Cordillera (Philippines), where it is known as Jianshouqing (Chinese:见手青; pinyin:Jiànshǒuqīng; lit.'see-hand-blue', as the flesh turns blue when exposed to air)[a] and Sedesdem respectively.[3]
In 2023, Lanmaoa asiatica received international media attention after U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was reported to have eaten a dish that contained it during an official visit to China. Yellen stated that the dish had been thoroughly cooked, and she experienced no ill effects (hallucinations).[4]
Toxicity
It is believed that the mushroom is less hallucinogenic when cooked thoroughly.[3]Yunnanese restaurants have developed a complete system of cooking and serving standards (which includes a ban on consuming alcoholic drinks with the mushroom) to minimize poisoning, with some establishments going further to make sure to always leave a sample of the mushrooms for analysis. The local government also sends short messages during mushroom season to warn about the potential of poisonings.[5] Nevertheless, poisonings remain common and the treatment thereof has subsequently become a specialty of local hospitals.[6]
Chemical and genomic analyses have shown that the Lanmaoa asiatica does not contain any known psychoactive compounds such as psilocybin or muscimol. It is likely that there remains an unknown hallucinogenic compound yet to be discovered in this species.[3][7] Chemical analysis of Lanmaoa asiatica has identified numerous compounds and their pharmacological activity has been studied, but as yet none of them have been linked to the reported psychoactive effects.[8][9][10][11]
↑Jiànshǒuqīng is a name broadly applied to boletes that turn blue on exposure to air. The academic name for this mushroom in Chinese is 兰茂牛肝菌 "Lan Mao's bolete", after Mr. Lan Mao, the namesake of the genus Lanmaoa.
↑Zhang X, Liu L, Luo J, Peng X (November 2022). "Anti-aging potency correlates with metabolites from in vitro fermentation of edible fungal polysaccharides using human fecal intestinal microflora". Food & Function. 13 (22): 11592–11603. doi:10.1039/d2fo01951e. PMID36268605.
↑Wang Y, Lüli Y, Li X, Yang ZL, Luo H (May 2024). "Pulvinic Acid Derivative Pigments in Lanmaoa asiatica and L. macrocarpa". Chemistry & Biodiversity. 21 (5) e202301996. doi:10.1002/cbdv.202301996. PMID38509847.
↑Zhang B, Yang L, Ma QY, Xie QY, Guo JC, Dai HF, etal. (June 2025). "Chemical constituents from the fruiting bodies of Lanmaoa asiatica and their anti-inflammatory activity". Fitoterapia. 183 106531. doi:10.1016/j.fitote.2025.106531. PMID40204044.
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