oyster mushroom (pluerotus populinus)?

[dualsetters]

I picked about a pound or more of these yesterday. I was pretty confident that they were good oysters. They were all on aspen, white/tan, gills all they way down, no stem, no bruising, smell of anise and had a white spore print.

top view, I believe this is big tooth aspen

bottom

spore print

[Dave W]

Those certainly look like Oysters. People have been getting good collections around here... on aspen.

Oyster Mushrooms are a species complex... or maybe more to the point, a group of similar species. Some of them have spore prints that are white, some not quite white. If you view a light-colored print against a white background, it's easier to see if there's any color other than white. Subtle yellows, creams, pinks, or lilacs may look white against a black background. Pure white will virtually disappear when viewed against a white background.

[dualsetters]

Thanks Dave,

I tried some and am still here and didn't get ill. I felt more than confident with them; apparently the most dangerous look a likes are found on hemlock and there isn't a hemlock tree any where close by. I still hope to get some positive feedback here though. I more than likely will be posting all of my first finds here no matter how obvious they seem to be. This sport has just a critical safety aspect as hunting or fishing and I would no more eat a mushroom with out checking anymore than I'd be careless with the front of my gun or when wading into dangerous water.

I chose black paper because I was looking for a light spore print and figured lilac would show also.

[Dave W]

I like to take spore prints on both black and white. Here's a photo of a Blewit print (Lepista nuda = Clitocybe nuda) where the light fleshy tint is best seen against the white.

[dualsetters]

I considered that, but was too lazy figuring it would all show up on black.

I did find some mushrooms today that resembled or possibly were oysters. There were 2 sets growing on what I believe was either wild cherry or red oak logs. They both looked to be oysters, but had a more defined cap, stems with no gills and didn't have the anise smell. They were also small and looked to have just come up.

I thought these made for an interesting picture also. I wasn't looking to get them id'd , but they were hard and cream colored underneath.

[Old Oak]

Mayfly,

The first mushrooms are definitely oysters. I've hunted those for around 4 years in my area and am very confident in my oyster mushroom identification skills. However, I don't think the white ones are oysters. The gills of an oyster mushroom extend from the edge of the "cap" to the myceliumn (see your first photo). The gills look as though they stop below the cap like a chantrelle. Again, I'm not certain, but it's something to consider.

[dualsetters]

Thanks Old Oak,

I did choose to pass them up. They just didn't seem right, but I am curious to what they may be now.

[Dave W]

Oak, I have collected Oysters with gills that stopped short of a small/stubby stalk. It's not the usual growth habit, but I see it once in a while. But the one specimen pictured really does have an unusually well-developed stalk. Like DS&MayFly say, best to pass by what you're not certain about.

Those cool purple shelves are Trichaptum biforme.

http://mushroomexpert.com/trichaptum_biforme.html

[dualsetters]

I am not taking any chances.

I did make a good id on that violet toothed polypore then I guess. I suppose it was pretty easy.