Are these oyster mushrooms?

[RockRogue]

I was out picking Chanterelles and I found a great cauliflower mushroom (again!), and I also found these (pictured below). They were everywhere, growing on many different wood species in varying degrees of rot, and possibly a few living trees, but I'm not sure. I havent attained a spore print yet, but I'm making one now.

They have no stem and grew in clusters, obviously gilled, not forked in the gills, and NONE had stems. Are they baby oysters? Something similiar?

EDIT: In oregon, today, columbia river gorge, around 1000 ft elevation not far from portland.

[vitog]

To me these look more like Angel Wings than Oyster Mushrooms. It's hard to tell from the photos, but I gather that these are fairly small; and Angel Wings are typically smaller and thinner than Oysters. Oysters also normally have a more rounded overall shape, while Angel Wings are irregular, as these appear to be. Another distinguishing characteristic is the host trees. In BC and possibly in Oregon, most Oysters will be found on Alder trees that often still retain their bark and are thus easy to identify. Angel Wings will occur on conifer logs that typically have rotted enough to lose all of their bark.

[RockRogue]

To me these look more like Angel Wings than Oyster Mushrooms. It's hard to tell from the photos, but I gather that these are fairly small; and Angel Wings are typically smaller and thinner than Oysters. Oysters also normally have a more rounded overall shape, while Angel Wings are irregular, as these appear to be. Another distinguishing characteristic is the host trees. In BC and possibly in Oregon, most Oysters will be found on Alder trees that often still retain their bark and are thus easy to identify. Angel Wings will occur on conifer logs that typically have rotted enough to lose all of their bark.

Your points match these perfectly, they were all on dead wood, some in advanced decomposing stages without bark.

and they are small and a bit thin. I would say they are 2-10cm in diameter, and about .5cm thick including gills.

The spore print is white, and they put out a good volume very quickly. These are very high in moisture by the way, and delicate.

[Feral Boy]

Angel wings were thought of as completely edible until fairly recently. A rainy year (2004) in Japan brought out masses of them a few years back, and around 14 people died after eating them.

Two qualifications: All had previous kidney problems of some kind, and they may have eaten repeated LARGE meals, day after day.

You can find a reference to it here:

http://www.nemf.org/files/lincoff/lookalikes/Recent_mushroom_poisonings.html

If these are angel wings, they may be harmless in normal quantities. But use your own judgement.

[vitog]

All of the old mushroom books state that Angel Wings are edible; so they are likely to be safe if consumed in reasonable quantities. I've never heard or read about any local cases of poisoning. However, when I tried them years ago, I found them to be pretty tasteless and haven't picked any since then.

[Dave W]

Here's a link to Rogers' Mushrooms (Roger Phillips) account of Angel Wings. Phillips now lists them as "poisonous" due to the incidents recorded in Japan. (See above posts.) I have eaten and enjoyed Angel Wings in the past, but I must admit that these recent reports have turned me off to this type of mushroom.

http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/DisplayBlock~bid~6644~gid~~source~gallerydefault.asp

As mentioned in previous posts, Angel Wings tend to occur on rotting conifer wood. Fruitings that I have encountered were on downed logs, and the mushrooms formed horizontally aligned overlapping "shelves". Angel Wings are typically thinner-fleshed and more delicate in texture that Oysters. Oysters come in a variety of different color shades --including white-- but Angel Wings are always white.

[RockRogue]

Here's a link to Rogers' Mushrooms (Roger Phillips) account of Angel Wings. Phillips now lists them as "poisonous" due to the incidents recorded in Japan. (See above posts.) I have eaten and enjoyed Angel Wings in the past, but I must admit that these recent reports have turned me off to this type of mushroom.

http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/DisplayBlock~bid~6644~gid~~source~gallerydefault.asp

As mentioned in previous posts, Angel Wings tend to occur on rotting conifer wood. Fruitings that I have encountered were on downed logs, and the mushrooms formed horizontally aligned overlapping "shelves". Angel Wings are typically thinner-fleshed and more delicate in texture that Oysters. Oysters come in a variety of different color shades --including white-- but Angel Wings are always white.

I read a LOT about the japan incidents (2004 and the single 2009 incident) and decided that they are safe to consume in normal quantities with my functional kidneys. I cooked up enough to cover the bottom of one and a half skillets, probably about a quarter pound. I dredged them in lightly seasoned flour and fried them in a small amount of butter and oil. My wife and I ate them, with me consuming most of them. They are better cooked hotter to make them a little crispy, since they are quite delicate.

So far it has been 24 hours, and I feel as excellent as I did yesterday. I will pick these whenever I can't find tons of chanterelles (like on this last outing when they were gone due to cold weather moving in). I don't think this was a wreckless decision to make, and I would encourage others to draw their own conclusions following a robust sober decision making process that is scientifically based.

I read one post on a blog where a man said that angel wings cause kidney failure. He obviously read the account of the Japaneese suffering from unrelated kidney failure that is hypothesized to have contributed to their poisoning from the mushrooms (note that no credible source has said that these have ever caused kidney issues). I am sure Roger Phillips knows what he is doing and that his summary is reasonable, but to anyone else reading this: please take into consideration the source of your information.

EDIT: I will let you all know if I get any ill effects in 15 days like brain lesions!!!

[Feral Boy]

> EDIT: I will let you all know if I get any ill effects in 15 days like brain lesions!!!

The problem with brain lesions is ... how will you know?

Good luck!

[RockRogue]

> EDIT: I will let you all know if I get any ill effects in 15 days like brain lesions!!!

The problem with brain lesions is ... how will you know?

Good luck!

I believe the Japanese has seizures associated with their lesions. But is was mainly a joke, had I thought there was any chance of me having symptoms to report, I wouldn't have eaten the mushrooms.