Maui MushroomFungi of Hawaiʻi
Hawaiʻi’s fungi are diverse, still being documented, and shaped by deep time and human movement. A Hawaiian name, a local sighting, or a locally grown crop each tells us something different.
A familiar form
Wood-ear fungi · Auricularia spp.
Pepeiao—“ear”—is the name used in Hawaiʻi for ear-shaped wood-ear fungi. The soft, folded fruitbodies often grow on dead or dying wood. They connect food traditions, local observation, and the work of learning to identify fungi well.
“Pepeiao” is a meaningful local name, but it does not by itself establish whether a particular specimen is native, introduced, or endemic. Species-level identification and biogeographic status depend on evidence, including well-documented collections and, where needed, DNA.
Never eat a wild mushroom based on a common name, photo, or website description. Identification and food safety require qualified, specimen-specific review.
Meet more island fungi
Alongside pepeiao, these fungi are documented in Hawaiʻi. Their presence here is one part of their story; it does not automatically make them native or endemic.
Schizophyllum commune
Tiny fans with a remarkable underside: the gill-like folds appear split along their edges. This wood-decaying fungus helps return the material in dead branches to the ecosystem.
Recorded in Hawaiʻi and widely distributed elsewhere; not endemic.
Volvariella volvacea
A warm-climate mushroom associated with decomposing plant material, including straw and compost. It is also cultivated as a food mushroom in many parts of Asia.
Recorded in Hawaiʻi; cultivated internationally and not endemic.
Tremella fuciformis
White, translucent, frilled fruitbodies give snow fungus its distinctive appearance. It grows in association with other fungi on decaying wood and is also cultivated as a food mushroom.
Listed in the Hawaiian macrofungi checklist; not endemic.
Agaricus spp.
This genus includes many different mushrooms—not just the familiar cultivated button mushroom. Hawaiian collections include Agaricus subrufescens, A. campestris, and other species.
Recorded in Hawaiʻi. Origin and identity must be assessed species by species.
Found nowhere else
Some mushrooms are known only from these islands. Protecting native forest protects the places they call home.
Hygrocybe lamalama
A bright orange to yellow-orange mushroom of native montane forests. It is documented on Hawaiʻi, Kauaʻi, Maui, and Molokaʻi.
Endemic to Hawaiʻi · IUCN: Vulnerable.
Hygrocybe noelokelani
A pink-capped mushroom with pale gills and a white stem, recorded in native forest on Hawaiʻi Island and Kauaʻi. Its future is closely tied to the health of its forest habitat.
Endemic to Hawaiʻi · IUCN: Endangered.
Callistosporium vinosobrunneum
A small, dark reddish-brown mushroom that grows on rotten wood in native montane wet forest. Published records are from Hawaiʻi Island and Kauaʻi.
Endemic to Hawaiʻi · IUCN: Vulnerable.
A name worth unpacking
Mesima, meshimakobu, and sanghuang are names used for a group of woody fungi with a history of use in East Asia. Older references often call them Phellinus linteus; modern research distinguishes several species, including members of Sanghuangporus.
They belong in a conversation about mushroom cultivation and traditions around the world. We do not currently have verified evidence to present “mesima” as a wild Hawaiian species or a Hawaiian endemic. A locally grown crop would be described by its confirmed species and grower.
Three different questions
Native fungi arrived without human transport. Endemic fungi are native and found nowhere else. Hawaiian research has described putatively endemic mushrooms from native montane forests; the inventory remains incomplete.
Research example: several agaric species described from native wet forests are considered putatively endemic.
Introduced fungi arrived through human activity—often with plants, soil, wood, or other materials—and now occur in Hawaiʻi. Some are widespread; others affect crops or native ecosystems.
A species being found in Hawaiʻi does not mean it is native to Hawaiʻi.
Cultivated describes a mushroom intentionally grown by people. It is not an origin category: a crop grown on Maui may come from a species native to Hawaiʻi, introduced to Hawaiʻi, or native elsewhere.
Ask both: where is this species from, and where/how was this crop grown?
A living record
MyCoPortal’s Hawaiian macrofungi checklist is a useful starting point for named records and cited collections. It is not a complete census: research notes that native and endemic fungi remain under-documented, and status can be uncertain when species boundaries or collection history are unclear.
Explore the Hawaiian fungi checklist