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Can someone confirm that these are Oysters?


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I've never actually gathered any oysters mushrooms the few times I've encountered them in the wild. They always seemed to be overly saturated with water and beetles, and well usually I already had filled my collection basket with something I already knew well and felt confident identifying and consuming by the time I found them. So, as a result, I've never really taken the time to learn to identify them with 100% certainty. Here are some pics of what I believe are oyster mushrooms that are freshy sprouted out from the side of a tree (not a conifer).

Do these look like oyster mushrooms?

Are these wild oyster mushrooms?

I took a spore print on both black and white paper, and it left a heavy coating in just a few hours of what seem like a greyish-cream color at first, but after I looked more closely, and at both sheets of white and black paper with the print on them, I discerned a sort of purple tone to the spore print, and sure enough when I checked the National Audubon Society Field Guide it lists oyster mushrooms as having a lilac-grey tinted print. So, I feel relatively sure these are indeed oysters, but just since I've never taken the time to bone up on these before, I'd appreciate some outside opinions. Thanks!

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Those look like Oysters to me. And the spore print info is a strong indicator here. Oysters (Pleutotus ostreatus) is a complex of closely-related species. Spore print colors range from white to lilac to light grayish.

During warmer weather it can be easy to confuse Oysters with Angel Wings (Pleurocybella porrigens). These are pure white, and have thinner flesh. They grow on conifer wood. I usually find them on fallen hemlock logs, horizontally aligned in overlapping rows. I have eaten Angel Wings many times. But there have been recent reports from Japan about poisonings associated with AW. So now I pass them by.

I find most of my true Oysters on aspen, maple, and less commonly on oak. Oysters are a favorite of mine. I like them in soups with scallops. I make both a white soup and an Asian style ginger-flavored soup with them. Also, they are excellent in cheese casseroles.

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Those look like Oysters to me. And the spore print info is a strong indicator here. Oysters (Pleutotus ostreatus) is a complex of closely-related species. Spore print colors range from white to lilac to light grayish.

During warmer weather it can be easy to confuse Oysters with Angel Wings (Pleurocybella porrigens). These are pure white, and have thinner flesh. They grow on conifer wood. I usually find them on fallen hemlock logs, horizontally aligned in overlapping rows. I have eaten Angel Wings many times. But there have been recent reports from Japan about poisonings associated with AW. So now I pass them by.

I find most of my true Oysters on aspen, maple, and less commonly on oak. Oysters are a favorite of mine. I like them in soups with scallops. I make both a white soup and an Asian style ginger-flavored soup with them. Also, they are excellent in cheese casseroles.

Thanks for the response! Where I found those oyster mushrooms today, there is a mix of maples, birch, oaks...across the lake there are a bunch of conifers, but they are pretty segregated.

I'v seen several different types of oyster mushrooms, but now that you mention it, a couple of them might have actually been Angels Wings mushrooms. I remember reading about the poisonings as well...it's partly what turned me off from collecting oysters up until now to be honest, I didn't feel I had enough experience to tell the difference to my satisfaction. And up until recently when I started to reach out to people on the internet about wild mushroom stuff, I had no one to weigh in on identifications. What do you think about the following pics? I'll label them what I THINK they are...and anyone can weigh in and let me know what you think...these are gathered at a few different locations over the past 5 years or so...unfortunately I don't have any spore print results or measurements written down, although I can describe the general size of them from memory.

Is this an Angels Wings Mushroom?

These were much larger than the one above so I am guessing it is an oyster mushroom...?

The darker color of these reminds me of the oyster mushrooms I found today pictured in the original post so I am guessing they are oyster mushrooms

I believe these are oyster mushrooms as well...

Any thoughts on those? I realize without the additional info like spore print color, tree it grew on, etc that it is mostly an educated guess. I am just hoping to start being able to see the differences with my own eyes and start from there.

Thanks again!

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First pic does look like Angel Wings. Difficult to tell. Second pic shows some really large oyster-like mushrooms. I'm not used to seeing AW that are this large. But this possibility can't be ruled out. Tannish ones in third pic are likely to be true Oysters. Fourth pic also looks like Oysters. Looks like the fourth pic shows a fruiting on a birch tree.

I'll post recipes for the Oyster Mushroom soups in the cooking thread... maybe later today or tomorrow.

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Another species you'll want to know is the False Oyster Phyllotopsis nidulans, which you can also find in the fall or winter. This one you're not really likely to mistake for oysters-- they're usually somewhat smaller, have hairy caps, and are orange with slightly lighter gills. Sometimes smell nasty, too.

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/phyllotopsis_nidulans.html

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Another species you'll want to know is the False Oyster Phyllotopsis nidulans, which you can also find in the fall or winter. This one you're not really likely to mistake for oysters-- they're usually somewhat smaller, have hairy caps, and are orange with slightly lighter gills. Sometimes smell nasty, too.

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/phyllotopsis_nidulans.html

Thanks for the info! False Oysterskinda look like the skin on a pig with the hairs and color of it. Why didn't they call this mushroom Pork of the Woods? Or Nature's Other Bacon?

They are absolutely Oysters (I am referring to the ones in Post #1) :)

Thank you for weighing in. I really appreciate the help. Now that I'm certain it is what it is, I will always recognize it on my hikes. It took me almost 4 years of being interested in wild mushroom hunting before I dared try anything I found because I was learning everything solo and had no one with experience to double check things for me. So, thanks everyone! Helps me learn a lot faster!

Also, Crepidotus species look a bit like Oysters, although they are small and thin-fleshed, with brown spore prints.

Yeah they do hold some resemblance to oyster mushrooms, don't they? I'm actually pretty sure that I recognize them from having seen them in the woods myself, but never trying to ID them yet...This thread has been a nice little course on training the eye what Oyster do and don't look like. Are there any other mushrooms people might mistake for oyster mushrooms before they know what they are looking for?

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Hypsizygus tessulatus (= H. ulmarius) is a whitish gilled mushroom that generally grows on living deciduous trees (sometimes standing dead trees). It differs from Pleurotus species in that it has a more well-defined stalk. Spore print white, edible. Sometimes this type mushroom is found growing at the base of a tree which causes it to appear terrestrial.

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  • 2 months later...

The first post is definitely oyster mushrooms. Pictures 2 and 3 from the second post are another species of oyster called pleurotus pulmunarius, i.e. lung oyster. Ostreatus is a fall mushroom and pulmonarius is a spring/early summer. I think the fourth picture from the second post is oysters also just overgrown, but still very tasty. I hunt these regularly in Nebraska. New to the site and excited to be a part of the forum.

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The first post is definitely oyster mushrooms. Pictures 2 and 3 from the second post are another species of oyster called pleurotus pulmunarius, i.e. lung oyster. Ostreatus is a fall mushroom and pulmonarius is a spring/early summer. I think the fourth picture from the second post is oysters also just overgrown, but still very tasty. I hunt these regularly in Nebraska. New to the site and excited to be a part of the forum.

Welcome aboard. Are the lung oysters edible?

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Welcome aboard. Are the lung oysters edible?

Yes. You've got to get to them even earlier than regular oysters because they waterlog quickly, but they are very good. They range in color from very pale tan/yellow to pale lilac. Try tossing them in oil and grilling them whole.

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  • 1 month later...

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