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Unidentified tree dweller - from last fall


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These mushrooms left me stumped last fall and I'm hoping someone here can point me in the right direction, so when they appear again, I can have a shot at identifying them. (I like to try to ID anything I find, with the exception of all the little brown mushrooms I see everywhere.)

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Here's what I know:

  • They grow on living trees, elms and possibly other species, well off the ground. The muchrooms appear singly - I have not observed clusters.
  • They appeared in the fall (sorry, I can't be more specific.)
  • The mushrooms are creamy white, with a "crackled" texture on the cap.
  • The caps of those I observed range between about 2" - 4" in diameter. The shape is irregular.
  • The stems are thick, solid and fibrous, and grow centrally from the cap. They are better than 1" in diameter at the base, which has a bulbous flare.
  • The gills are not attached.
  • These were found in trees in my yard and in the wood circling my house, which is in a northern suburb of Chicago.

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I posted some pics of another specimen on my blog.

I'd love a little help on these. Thanks!

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Heather's suggestion looks good to me. I think this is an example of a species in the small genus Hypsizygus. According to Bessette/Bessette/Fischer (Mushrooms of NE North America), the species H. ulmarius has been confused on account of many different names being applied. B/B/F says that this list of names includes H. marmoreus, H. elongatipes, H. tessulatus (which is the name that B/B/F uses). Lentinus or Lentinellus are other possible genera; but the gill attachment looks wrong for either of these.

Welcome to the wonderful world of mushroom taxonomy! :)

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Hypsizygus is likely correct. The specimens shown look like they have been around the block a few times. A young fresh specimen will be all white and have quite a meaty sort sort of weight to it. It will generally also have an aroma of anise or licorice (the same aroma as oyster mushrooms) and I use its aroma to get to the id on these.

Heather it is interesting that you called it a boxelder mushroom. I knew they reportedly grew on boxelder but the truth is I cant recall ever seeing any mushroom at all grow on boxwlder here. Many field guides also call them elm oysters and no I havent seen any on elm either. In southern Ontario we find them mostly high on red maple trunks. The folks who get serious about collecting these mushrooms carry what we call a hypsi stick, a sort of telescoping rod that lets them harvest up the trunk. I just use my hiking staff and if I cant reach them all I dont much worry about it. Fresh white hypsi tastes pretty good.

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Thanks so much for the help! Dufferin, you're right, I took these photos after a frost, and after I had been staring at these for a few weeks - they had some age on them. These were in fact growing on elms, which I've been busy plotting in the woods near my house, hoping they'll give rise to morels in a few weeks! I'm sure I'll have ample opportunities to photo fresh examples this summer, because, as I said, there were a lot of these growing in numerous trees.

I really appreciate the help - I'm still bumbling around in the shallow end of the taxonomy, and am barely conversant except when faced with the glaringly obvious (giant puffballs, hens of the woods.) I couldn't find anything to go in Audubon but will now go back for a second look-see. :blush:

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