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Reposting for Dave


Sunny_0ne

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I had posted this photo before the move and it was one of the posts that didn't make it over to the new server. :)

Several people had suggested ID's. Based on Michael Kuo's site that says sometimes oyster mushrooms can have a long, dry, fuzzy stalk, I am pretty confident this was an old oyster, although I didn't get a spore print.

It was growing on a sweetgum tree, which is the favored host for oysters around here. And it smelled like an oyster mushroom.

But I'd like your confirmation, Dave, please? :)

post-316-0-15579100-1380051384_thumb.jpg

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This one is problematic because the mushrooms appear to be post-mature. So some features may be misleading. The long equal-thickness stalks lead one away from Pleurotus ostreatus. But this may be on account of the age of the mushrooms. Hypsizygus tessulatus is another possibility. Oyster Mushrooms represent a complex of closely related species. So perhaps this is a type of Pleurotus with which I am unfamiliar. Difficult to commit ot any particular ID with these.

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Yes, it is old, Dave. It was turning brown from drying out.

I checked Hypsizygus tessulatus and it doesn't fit.

The following quote from Michael Kuo was why I thought it still might be an oyster in spite of the "wrong" stalk:

Stem: Usually
rudimentary and lateral (or absent) when the mushroom is growing from
the side of a log or tree. When it grows on the tops of logs or
branches, or at an angle, however, it may develop a substantial and
thick stem that is dry and slightly hairy near the base.



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

Another difference I noticed, too, is that usually old oysters develop a spread out, ruffled appearance -- more like the one in my avatar -- rather than maintaining their inrolled edges... at least the few I've found.

Anyway, thanks for the help. Since I didn't eat it, or plan to eat it, I'm calling it a weird oyster until I find something that fits better. Wish I had taken a spore print, but since it was old and drying up, I doubted I would get one. :)

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Planets, I checked it out. It does look similar. However, the ones I found definitely do not have a central stalk, although the Hypsizgus ulmaris can have a central stalk or slightly off center stalk.

Apparently we are not the only ones who have trouble with this, or a similar mushroom. Here's what Kuo says:

Hypsizygus ulmarius certainly must hold the record for being the most often misnamed mushroom in America. While it was formerly known as Pleurotus ulmarius, the most common error has been to use the name Hypsizygus tessulatus. A report by Scott Redhead in Mycologia (1986), however, indicates that Hypsizygus tessellatus is a smaller mushroom which usually grows in clusters, and is widely cultivated in Japan as hon-shimeji.



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

Anyway, that's probably as close as we are going to get since my specimen is long gone!

Thank you!

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