"Hunting" for O Linh Sam mushrooms

When it comes to O Linh Sam mushrooms, many people still think that it only appears in the Central Highlands provinces such as Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak ... but in the mountainous district of Tanh Linh, nature still bestows this rare mushroom and the first rains of the season appear, which is also the time when O Linh Sam mushrooms grow and flourish and many people, mainly ethnic minorities, have the opportunity to "hunt" mushrooms with an income of millions of dong per day.

Mr. Beo shows off the mushroom products he "hunted".

Go "hunting" for Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms

Very excited because just yesterday he earned nearly 2 million VND from hunting for O Linh Sam mushrooms, so early this morning, Mr. Nguyen Van Beo, a K'ho ethnic group, Tan Thanh quarter, Lac Tanh town, prepared some food for lunch, drinking water, and tools such as a hoe and a bag to continue his journey to hunt for O Linh Sam mushrooms. Having made an appointment in advance, this morning we were also present at Mr. Beo's house to learn about his mushroom hunting work. Sitting behind Mr. Beo's motorbike was a relative of his family who also joined in the mushroom hunting. From home, they drove their motorbikes around many streams, many rubber plantations, cashew plantations... into the Chi mountain area for about 30 minutes, then they parked their motorbikes and split up to search for O Linh Sam mushrooms. I followed Mr. Beo from one area to another, from one termite mound to another, but still could not find any trace of O Linh Sam mushrooms. It was past noon and I was tired, but Mr. Beo was still calm, smiling and chatting, seemingly not tired at all. Mr. Beo encouraged me to keep going and not be discouraged, and that I would find the O Linh Sam mushroom because this type of mushroom was also found in this area last year. When the sun was at its zenith, Mr. Beo suddenly stopped and excitedly shouted: Here - the O Linh Sam mushroom is here. I tried to walk quickly but only saw a large termite mound with a diameter of more than 2m2, about 0.5m higher than the surrounding ground, with some grass growing on top but no O Linh Sam mushroom was seen. Seeing my surprise, Mr. Beo smiled and lifted some grass, pointed at something that looked like an incense stick, with a white tip and said: Any termite mound that has these things will have O Linh Sam mushroom inside. Mr. Beo said in a slightly lower voice: This is the experience that my old man taught me, only my brother can reveal it, not others.

The mushroom is slender and a few centimeters long.

O linh ginseng mushroom emerges from the ground

Taking a sip of water, Mr. Beo took his tools and dug into the termite mound. It had only been a few days since the first rains of the season, so the water had not yet penetrated much into the soil. Moreover, the soil in the termite mound was often compacted, so it was very hard and difficult to dig. However, with his strong muscular strength and the belief that there were O Linh mushrooms in it, in no time he had dug up the hard layer of soil on top of the termite mound. Mr. Beo did not need to use his strength to hit the termite mound with the hoe anymore, but used a light force because according to his experience, he was close to where the mushrooms were living. Indeed, after lightly digging, a round, empty space like a small ball appeared. Mr. Beo reached in and took out something black and showed me, "Hey, this is O Linh ginseng mushroom." According to observation, the mushroom was black, one end was slightly round and the other was a long, small cylinder. When he broke the mushroom open, the inside was ivory white. Mr. Beo continued digging and took out a few O Linh ginseng mushrooms from the ground and put them in a bag. Just like that, the big termite mound was soon leveled. After taking this termite mound, we also got a few ounces of O Linh Sam mushrooms. We rested and ate some food to regain our strength, then continued our mushroom hunting journey because according to Mr. Beo, this type of mushroom is only available during the first few weeks of the rainy season, after that the mushrooms will rot or be eaten by insects, so we need to search urgently.

Bountiful harvest from hunting for O linh ginseng mushrooms

It was already late afternoon, and today we had found 3 termite mounds with O Linh Sam mushrooms. The amount of mushrooms we had collected was about 1 kg, probably worth about 1.5 million VND, Mr. Beo said excitedly. According to Mr. Beo, the mushrooms we picked were sold for 1.5 million VND/kg for small mushrooms; and the mushrooms as big as a small mineral water bottle cap were bought for 3.5 million VND/kg. No matter how big or small they were, they bought them all. I picked them to sell for money, but I don't know what they did with them, I only heard that these mushrooms are very nutritious. I have been picking O Linh Sam mushrooms for 2 years now. Last year, the income this mushroom season was also quite good. In particular, hunting for O Linh Sam mushrooms is very enjoyable, sometimes we get mushrooms and also catch snakes in the termite mounds, so we catch them and sell them.

Through research, it was found that the O Linh Sam mushroom grows and develops deep inside termite mounds or ant nests. Not only is it rare, this O Linh Sam mushroom is also rich in nutrients and has the ability to treat a number of diseases.

Source