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Oyster Mushrooms?


Chris

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I'm having a hard time positively identifying oyster mushrooms (even though most books say this is a good species for beginners because of "few lookalikes") and would love some tips and clarification. I feel like there are many mushrooms that fit all of the criteria but still look disimilar to one another.  I found this specimen in mid March growing on a rotting Tan Oak log in the San Francisco Bay Area about a week after heavy rains. Spores are white (see white spores in third photo). The two specimens came from the same log. The smaller one is more representative of the shape (fan-like) and size (silver dollar) of most of the fruit on the log.  The larger more symmetrical version was an outlier.   Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!! 

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These look like a species of Pleurotus to me (Oyster Mushrooms). Growth on wood supports this ID proposal. Did you smell them? 

Looking at the photo of the spore print, I think I see a slight smoky tinge against the white background. If so, then this supports a proposal of Pleurotus ostreatus. 

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Thanks so much, Dave, for getting back to me promptly on this.  Your feedback is helpful.  My wife and I did smell them but could not place the smell.  We thought it might match the "anise-like sweetness and mushroomy earthy tones" described by Noah Siegel and Christian Schwarz in Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast but we could not really be sure.  Is there a certain odor profile that you look for when identifying Pleurotus?  

I think your assessment of the spore color is about right.  The print looks very white against the dark-brown table but smoky against the white paper. 

 

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Odor of Pleurotus mushrooms has been described as... like anise or like ocean breeze. Describing an odor is rather subjective. I would say that oyster mushrooms have a pleasant odor. The appearance of the spore print --whitish against black and subtly smoky against white-- is a good indicator of P. ostreatus. 

 

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