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Are these oysters?


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I think those are Pleurotus (Oysters). Growth habit looks like Pleurotus. Gills seen in photo are what I'd call "short-decurrent". Sometimes Oysters have well-formed stipes, like what is seen in the photo. I see this a lot with the Summer Oyster (P. pulmonarius); not so much with the ones in spring (usually P. populinus). But I believe any type of Pleurotus mushroom may develop a stipe... at least all the types I see here in eastern NA. Knowing the type of tree the wood came from may help. 

We're getting to the part of the season when Crepidotus species start to appear. These brown-spored mushrooms grow in shelf-like groups on downed logs, but lack the rather thick well-formed stipes like the one seen here. Also, the flesh of Crepidotus mushrooms tends to be rather fragile/crumbly. Pleurotus mushrooms have resilient flesh that's often quite dense near the point of attachment to the substrate. 

When in doubt, a spore print can sometimes be helpful. 

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Cheers Dave, thanks! I showed my pics to a gentleman at my local farmers market who was selling golden oysters. He thought these were "white oysters". Might take a pass on them as I am very new to this hobby outside of morels, but will do a spore print for fun, (my first). The big golden morels are finally popping in Eastern Iowa so I'm having fun with those at least. Will pick up some pheasant backs tomorrow too. Thanks again.

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For the sake of information, collect a spore print on both b;lack and white (non-absorbent) surfaces. A pale print will be more easily detected on the black, but any subtle deviation from white will be easier to assess in contrast to the white surface. Similarly, dark prints are easily seen on the white, but if very dark, any difference from pure black is seen in contrast to the black surface. Of the several species of Pleurotus (Oysters) some have prints that are either white or very close to white. Some have pale smoky grayish-lilac print (may need a generous deposit to see this).

"White Oyster" does not refer to any specific species of Pleurotus. Most of the cultivated Pleurotus I have seen have caps that are not white (gray, blue, yellow, tan). Of the ones that are found in the wild, Pleurotus pulmonarius (Summer Oyster) is almost always white-capped. Pleurotus populinus (often found in spring) is also often white. Pleurotus dryinus (Veiled Oyster) is chalky-white. These types are all good edibles. 

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