Shiitake specific epithet "" is the Latin word for "edible". 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, chestnut, oak, maple, beech, sweetgum, poplar, hornbeam, ironwood, mulberry, and chinquapin ("Castanopsis" spp.). Its natural distribution includes warm and moist climates in southeast Asia. The earliest written record of shiitake cultivation is seen in the "Records of Longquan County" () compiled by He Zhan () in 1209 during the Southern Song dynasty. The 185-word description of shiitake cultivation from
What Is Spiritism? What Is Spiritism? What Is Spiritism? ("Qu'Est-ce Que le Spiritisme" in French) is a brief introduction to Spiritism written by Allan Kardec in 1859, which is about a quarter of the length of The Spirits Book. Modern editions are augmented by a brief biography of the author, written by Henri Sausse, in 1896 which is mostly focused on his role in the History of Spiritism. The book is structured as a series of conferences about Spiritism, intended to quench the public curiosity and dismiss false notions about the doctrine. It is not intended as an initiation and is not seen