De Guzman, Faustine Mae M.

03/12/2021
BIO RES2 / Section 1

Ethnomycology of Macrofungi in Ifugao

In the paper of De Leon et. al. , the researchers stated that the Ifugao community treat
mushroom more of a food and they are very much aware on what are the edible or poisonous
mushrooms found in their area based on their physical appearance but not just that sometimes
they use odor in order to identify the mushroom which is edible. Some of them utilized
mushrooms for the use in medicine, they believed that it can cure several diseases and that it can
help when it comes to deworming and eliminating solid waste of the body. It is a belief in
Banaue and Hungduan that one type of mushroom found there is capable on curing cancer, this
kind of mushroom is locally known as fatang. Superstitious beliefs regarding mushrooms govern
indigenous people in this area, they believes that mushrooms are surrounded by spirits, because
of this belief they ask permission first before collecting mushrooms. These shows that even
though the ifugao communities are in the same province ,they have different beliefs. (De Leon et.
al. , 2018)

De Leon, A. M., Fermin, S. C., Rigor, R. T., Kalaw, S. P., Dela Cruz, T. E., & Stephenson,
S. L. (n.d.). Ethnomycological Report on the Macrofungi Utilized by the Indigenous Community
in Ifugao Province, Philippines. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330352959_Ethnomycological_report_on_the_macrofu
ngi_utilized_by_the_indigenous_community_in_ifugao_province_Philippines.