The mushroom, called ganba-jun by the locals, and its host trees are highly endemic to Yunnan Province in south-western China. It is economically traded as food and also it’s medicinal properties with freshly collected gan-ba-jun sold for about RMB Yuan 200 per kilogram. In unit price, gan-ba-jun is comparable to or greater than other well-known gourmet mushrooms such as the da-hong-jun (or big red mushroom), the matsutake mushroom, and the morels and boletus in that region. The habitat wise, been altered by human influence, primarily due to agriculture, resulting in habitat loss for T. ganbajun. Although, the habitat is currently being planted for reforestation but are not species which host T. ganbajun on their roots, but rather trees of economic value. Plus as an Ectomycorrhiza fungi, thus it could not be commercially cultivated. With consumer demands and relatively good price in the local market, over harvesting and over exploitation are both a concern for this fungi species. More studies should be done immediately especially on the population trend to get the latest data on the population of the species.

Thelephora ganbajun M. Zang, Acta Botanica Yunnanica 9 (1): 85 (1987.

The ectomycorrhizal fungus Thelephora ganbajun is an endemic gourmet mushroom in Yunnan province, south-western China. However, despite its widespread consumer appeal, nutritional value and potential ecological role in natural forests, very little is known about its genetics, diversity and ecology.

Endemic to Yunnan Province,China, and grows primarily in association with pine forests, at altitudes between 800 and 2200 masl. Vegetation cover associated with the occurrence of T. ganbajun include pure stands of Pinus yunannensis and P. kesiya, and to a lesser extent Keteleeria evelyniana
and Cunninghamia lanceolata as well as mixed broad leafconifer forests (Mortimer et al, 2012). Also reported from Laos and Thailand.

The mushroom, called by the locals, and its host trees are highly endemic to
Yunnan Province in south-western China.

endemic to Yunnan Province,
China, and grows primarily in association with pine forests,
at altitudes between 800 and 2200 masl. Vegetation cover associated with the occurrence
of T. ganbajun include pure stands of Pinus yunannensis
and P. kesiya, and to a lesser extent Keteleeria evelyniana
and Cunninghamia lanceolata as well as mixed broad leaf/
conifer forests. T. ganbajun requires forest stands
10 years or older. Furthermore, many of the new trees
being planted for reforestation are not species which host
T. ganbajun on their roots, but rather trees of economic
value (Mortimer, 2012)

Consumer demand and inability to cultivate this mushroom artificially, there has been noticeable overexploitation and on sequent decline of local populations of this species.The landscape of Yunnan Province has to a large extent, been altered by human influence, primarily due to agriculture, resulting in habitat loss for T. ganbajun. However,with new measures being taken in reforestation, new habitats for T. ganbajun are being created, though this is a lengthy process as T. ganbajun requires forest stands 10 years or older. Furthermore, many of the new trees
being planted for reforestation are not species which host T. ganbajun on their roots, but rather trees of economic value.

Controlling the number and size of harvests per season. Preserving the pure stands of Pinus yunannensis and P. kesiya, and to a lesser extent Keteleeria evelyniana and Cunninghamia lanceolata as well as mixed broad leaf/ conifer forests at Yunna

Cultivation and population determination

goodtaste and medicinal properties such as the high aminophenol
content which is used in the production of paracetamol

Tao Sha1 ,  Jianping Xu2 ,  Malliya Gounder Palanichamy1 ,  Han-Bo Zhang1 ,  Tao Li1 ,  Zhi-Wei Zhao1 , Ya-Ping Zhang1. Genetic diversity of the endemic gourmet mushroom Thelephora ganbajun from south-western China. .Microbiology (2008), 154, 3460–3468.

Peter Edward Mortimer, Qiaohong Li, Samantha C. Karunarathna and Heng Gui. Prized edible Asian mushrooms: Ecology, conservation and sustainability. Fungal diversity · September 2012