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Plate V

Oyster Mushroom

Pleurotus ostreatus

Choice edible

Overlapping shelf caps with gills that run right down onto a stubby, off-side stem.

Oyster Mushroom specimen

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  1. 1Decurrent gills
  2. 2Lateral stipe
  3. 3Shelf cluster

Specimen record

Hymenium
Decurrent gills
Spore print
Lilac-grey
Season
Fall – winter
Habitat
Hardwood logs; saprobic

Field notes

Fan- to oyster-shaped caps in shelving clusters on dead hardwood. The white gills are decurrent — they run down onto a very short lateral stem, or onto the wood where the stem is all but absent. A fresh cluster often smells faintly of anise or almond.

Do not confuse with · ✗

Angel wings (Pleurocybella)

Thinner, purely white, on conifer, with no real stem — implicated in serious poisonings. Oysters are thicker and favor hardwood.

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