An acidic polysaccharide H-III was extracted from fruiting bodies of Lyophyllum shimeji with hot water. Acid hydrolysis and gas chromatography analysis showed that the polysaccharide was almost exclusively composed of glucose with a very small amount of mannose and galactose. Uronic acid of 8.36% was also detected in H-Ill. Its molecular weight was estimated to be $1{ imes} 10^6 Da.;By;^{13}C-NMR$ analysis, some repeating units of disaccharide were detected in the polymer H-III. The polysaccharide showed a strong mitogenic activity in a dose-dependent manner.