The stem bark of Rhus verniciflua (RVSB) has been used in herbal medicine to treat diabetes mellitus and stomach ailments for thousands of years in Korea, despite its content of the plant allergen, urushiol. A new biological approach for the removal of urushiol from RVSB using mushrooms is described. All mushroom species (11 sp.) employed in this study were able to grow on RVSB, although the growth rate (mm/day) was lower than the control (sawdust). The components of urushiol congeners [C15 triene (m/z 314), C15 diene (m/z 316), C15 monoene (m/z 318), and C15 saturated (m/z 320)] were purified by HPLC and identified by GC-MS. A C15:3 (3-pentadecatrienly catechol) was found to be most abundant in RVSB. Urushiol analogues decreased remarkably from 154.15 to 10.73 mg/100 g (approximately 93%) by Fomitella fraxinea, whereas Trametes vercicolor showed only a 1.46% degradation capacity despite its 2 fold higher growth rate. Similarly, laccase activity was found to be high for F. fraxinea and low for T. vercicolor. Moreover, approximately 98% detoxification was accomplished by F. fraxinea cultivated on RVSB supplemented with 20%(w/w) rice bran. These findings suggest that mushrooms can be used in the detoxification of RVSB.