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How buggy is too buggy for oyster mushrooms?


wny_forager

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Hi there! Came across a nice flush of oysters that are intact, fresh growth prob only a few days old (I’ve been keeping my eye on it from afar). I’ve eaten small amounts from this same log earlier this year, it’s oyster and it’s good! 

Today I went to check out the new growth up close and while they weren’t decaying, there were plenty of bugs and they’re very watery and weak. I wonder if I’m a day or two late. 

What’s your experience? 

(Didn’t get a shot of the undersides!) 

A61F7040-EF58-4117-BD9C-C6586075D4F4.jpeg

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  • 2 weeks later...

The maggots are perfectly edible and can't hurt you.  However, they do tend to promote rotting that could cause some problems.  I once found a mass fruiting of Shrimp Russulas that were mostly quite mature, and their stems were riddled with maggots.  Some animal, probably a bear, had eaten just the stems and left behind all of the caps.

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I suppose it’s less about eating the bugs (I’m not freaked out about that), and more about wondering if the presence of bugs indicates a certain “best by” time has passed.

Haven’t foraged a ton of oyster mushrooms so I don’t have a range of conditions I’ve found them in, not enough to compare how worth it it is to collect.  

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The presence of maggots tells you nothing about how mature the mushroom is.  I've found tiny buttons of King Boletes riddled with maggots when they're still mostly underground.  Others are free of maggots even when overmature.

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So after grabbing a ton today, and doing more research to differentiate between oysters and angel wings, I think what I have might be Pleurotus populinus. The color is right, the lack of any stem is right, and I can’t go off telling what wood it’s growing in because I can’t tell. It’s a large fallen trunk that’s elevated up off the ground, and it has a big curve in it, with some large branching. I don’t think it’s a conifer. 

 

Edit : i realized there was a ton of inonotus taking over this log along with the oyster (assuming it’s oyster). Apparently inonotus only grows on broadleaf wood so I guess it’s not a conifer ?  

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