PARAGRAPHIt is considered a medicinal mushroom in some forms of traditional medicine. The fungus was first described scientifically as Agaricus edodes by Miles Joseph Berkeley in It is also commonly called " sawtooth oak mushroom", "black forest mushroom", "black mushroom", " golden oak mushroom", or "oakwood mushroom". Shiitake grow in groups on the decaying wood of deciduous trees , particularly shii and other chinquapins , chestnut , oak , maple , beech , sweetgum , poplar , hornbeam , ironwood , and mulberry. Its natural distribution includes warm and moist climates in Southeast Asia. Like all mushrooms, shiitakes produce vitamin D2 upon exposure of their internal ergosterol to ultraviolet B UVB rays from sunlight or broadband UVB fluorescent tubes.