# Angel’s wings (Pleurocybella porrigens)

**Pleurocybella porrigens**

**Known today as.** A whitish, fan-shaped fungus that rots conifer wood.

Kind: Fungus  
Toxic: yes

> **Caution.** Poisonous, especially to those with kidney disease.

## What was it used for?

Once generally regarded as edible.

## What does modern science say?

The cause is not yet established; it is now listed as not to be eaten.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **pleurocybellaziridine**: an unusual amino acid

**Mechanism.** The aziridine amino acid is toxic to rat oligodendrocytes, brain cells, in culture; in 2004, fifty-nine people in nine Japanese prefectures, most with kidney disorders, fell ill with an encephalopathy within three weeks of eating it, and seventeen died.

**Dose.** Ordinary meals, in the kidney-impaired.

**Standing.** Once regarded as edible; now listed as not to be eaten, the danger greatest for anyone with kidney disease.

## What lore surrounds it?

In the autumn of 2004 it was linked to an outbreak of brain disease in Japan, fatal to several people with kidney disease.

## Sources

- “Pleurocybella porrigens.” *Wikipedia* (read 2 October 2026).
- Wakimoto, T., et al. (2011). “Proof of the existence of an unstable amino acid: pleurocybellaziridine in *Pleurocybella porrigens*.” *Angewandte Chemie* 50.
- Gejyo, F., et al. (2005). “A novel type of encephalopathy associated with mushroom *Sugihiratake* ingestion in patients with chronic kidney diseases.” *Kidney International* 68.

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*Angel’s wings.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-10-03. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/angels-wings

Historical description, not medical advice.