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Help identifying mushroom from India


paticheri

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I found these mushrooms growing on the cut side and bark of a log (I'm afraid I don't know of what tree though I can do some guessing) by a roadside in Auroville, India. I'm a complete novice at identifying mushrooms, but they looked at first like they might be oysterish--though the gills don't look right, and don't go down the stems. Via various searches, I came upon an old thread suggesting they might be trainwreckers / scaly lentin & the description on this page is certainly en pointe even if the specimens shown there are a little more convex than mine which appear to cave in the center & margins are quite frilly. 

Could anyone help confirm or point me in the right directions?

Apologies for the photographic overkill; I'm not sure still what details might help. I did notice pavement ants making off with chunks while trying to get good images though!  

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When I saw these photos, my first thoughts were  Neolentinus lepideus (Train Wrecker) and Lentinus tigrinus.

There are a few differences from the N. lepideus I sometimes find here in eastern North America. The stems are quite thin and the fairly large group are different from what I'm used to seeing with this species. For N. lepideus the gill edges should be noticeably serrated (saw-toothed). 

I think L. tigrinis is a better possibility here. The tightly-spaced gills and thin stalks fit this species. For L. tigrinis, the gill edges are said to become slightly serrated in age. So, for young versions the gill edges may be almost straight. This is a feature you will need to check carefully. I can't quite tell from the photos. L. tigrinis tends to grow in areas that sometimes become very wet, like near a river bank. 

These could be a species of Lentinus/Neolentinus that does not occur in NA. Many types of mushrooms that are found in Asia are not found in NA. 

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13 hours ago, Dave W said:

When I saw these photos, my first thoughts were  Neolentinus lepideus (Train Wrecker) and Lentinus tigrinus.

There are a few differences from the N. lepideus I sometimes find here in eastern North America. The stems are quite thin and the fairly large group are different from what I'm used to seeing with this species. For N. lepideus the gill edges should be noticeably serrated (saw-toothed). 

I think L. tigrinis is a better possibility here. The tightly-spaced gills and thin stalks fit this species. For L. tigrinis, the gill edges are said to become slightly serrated in age. So, for young versions the gill edges may be almost straight. This is a feature you will need to check carefully. I can't quite tell from the photos. L. tigrinis tends to grow in areas that sometimes become very wet, like near a river bank. 

These could be a species of Lentinus/Neolentinus that does not occur in NA. Many types of mushrooms that are found in Asia are not found in NA. 

Thank you so much for this. Gill-edge serration -- I assume you mean the edges of the caps in older mushrooms are serrated, while younger mushrooms have straight edges in L. tigrinis, correct? I've taken a few additional photos, please do see if these clarify? The first is the larger and older mushroom, images 2 and 3 are of the younger.

As for growing near river banks -- these weren't at all in a riverine area, but we have had a LOT of rain and localized water-pooling/ flooding in recent weeks & so it's possible that certain micro-ecosystems have emerged with the season maybe? We do get most wild mushroom growth right after the monsoons & I've certainly not seen these mushrooms around here before. 

Pollen print wound up white-tending-to-yellowish, by the way.

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The "gills" are the paper-thin ribs the hang from the underside of the cap of a mushroom. Each mushroom has many gills on the underside of the cap. Another word for "gill" is lamella (plural is "lamellae"). Your new photos show the cap margin, the outer edge of the cap. The "edges" of the gills are the bottom parts of the gills. 

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13 hours ago, Dave W said:

The "gills" are the paper-thin ribs the hang from the underside of the cap of a mushroom. Each mushroom has many gills on the underside of the cap. Another word for "gill" is lamella (plural is "lamellae"). Your new photos show the cap margin, the outer edge of the cap. The "edges" of the gills are the bottom parts of the gills. 

Aah, my apologies -- I misunderstood your earlier comments then. So we're looking at the edges of the gills themselves for straightness or serration? I'm not really able to tell (or photograph) that much variation, but that might be just ageing eyes. Would there be a possibility of alternate identification if there's no noticeable difference in the edges of gills as the mushroom itself ages?

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Lentinus tigrinus is said to have gill edges that become slightly serrated. It could be that your mushrooms had not yet developed the serrated gills. Also, your mushrooms may represent a species that does not occur in eastern North America, and as such I am unfamiliar with it. Regardless, I think your mushrooms represent a species of either genus Lentinus or genus Neolentinus. 

Actually, Lentinus tigrinus is a species currently being studied here in North America. I passed along this discussion to the researchers. 

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21 hours ago, Dave W said:

Lentinus tigrinus is said to have gill edges that become slightly serrated. It could be that your mushrooms had not yet developed the serrated gills. Also, your mushrooms may represent a species that does not occur in eastern North America, and as such I am unfamiliar with it. Regardless, I think your mushrooms represent a species of either genus Lentinus or genus Neolentinus. 

Actually, Lentinus tigrinus is a species currently being studied here in North America. I passed along this discussion to the researchers. 

I believe I understood that (young mushrooms have gills that are straighter, older ones become serrated) & take the point about there possibly being variants in India that aren't present in N America. 

& Lentinus or genus Neolentinus -- I'm reading that both are edible, though not always desirably so. I hope that's right :D

If these little finds can be useful to the researchers looking at these beauties, I'm glad! 

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Neolentinus lepideus is considered to be edible, but not good quality. It is probably tough.

Lentinus tigrinus is listed as not edible. Probably tough and stringy. 

I have never eaten either of these two types. 

Yes, for the species Lentinus tigrinus the gill edges start out smooth and become slightly ragged as they age. Neolentinus lepideus also has gills with edges that become serrated/ragged as they age. This detail is not the same for all types of mushrooms with gills. 

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On 12/16/2021 at 10:58 AM, Dave W said:

Neolentinus lepideus is considered to be edible, but not good quality. It is probably tough.

Lentinus tigrinus is listed as not edible. Probably tough and stringy. 

I have never eaten either of these two types. 

Yes, for the species Lentinus tigrinus the gill edges start out smooth and become slightly ragged as they age. Neolentinus lepideus also has gills with edges that become serrated/ragged as they age. This detail is not the same for all types of mushrooms with gills. 

hugely appreciative of your insights and comments on this! thank you!

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Paticheri, if you have a Mushroom Observer membership, then you should use these photos to create a post to that website. Free to join   https://mushroomobserver.org/observer/intro. Otherwise, with your permission I'll use your nice photos to create an MO post. Your would receive credit for the photos. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/24/2021 at 11:24 PM, Dave W said:

Paticheri, if you have a Mushroom Observer membership, then you should use these photos to create a post to that website. Free to join   https://mushroomobserver.org/observer/intro. Otherwise, with your permission I'll use your nice photos to create an MO post. Your would receive credit for the photos. 

Sorry I'm late responding here but I'll be happy to both join -- but I know it's going to take me a bit to do so, so in the meantime of course you can use my photos to create an MO post! I've a good many other images of mushrooms from here I'd like to eventually identify, as guides on local foraging are few + unusable/unreliable. It'll be great to have a community's eyes on these, for ideas and insights. I'm Deepa by the way -- Paticheri is my blog, www.paticheri.com 

Thank you again, Dave!

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16 hours ago, Dave W said:

Thanks you, Deepa. If you decide later to make your own MO post for these mushrooms, then I'll take my post down. https://mushroomobserver.org/483140

Or I can make my own posts on other mushrooms later, no problem! I'm glad the images are out there, and thank you for crediting me :) Good to be part of these communities!

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