Major Groups > Gilled Mushrooms > Pale-Spored > Oysters > Pleurotus ostreatus

Pleurotus ostreatus: The Oyster Mushroom

[ Basidiomycetes > Agaricales > Pleurotaceae > Pleurotus . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

This well known mushroom is easily recognized by the way it

grows on wood in shelf-like clusters; its relatively large size; its
whitish gills that run down a stubby, nearly-absent stem; and its
whitish to lilac spore print. It fruits in fall and winter across North
America, and has a brownish cap. A number of very similar
species are closely related, and the broad term "Oyster
Mushroom" applies equally to Pleurotus ostreatus, Pleurotus
pulmonarius (which is often paler, and appears in the summer),
and Pleurotus populinus (which is found on the wood of quaking
aspen).

I think oyster mushrooms have a peculiar smell, but I would be

hard pressed to describe it. An "oyster mushroom smell" is
about all I can come up with, but the not-unpleasant odor seems
fairly distinctive in the mushroom world. Because they are large
and grow on trees, oyster mushrooms can be seen from the
car--like, when it rains hard for days on end and you just have to
get out.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic; growing in shelf-like clusters on dead logs

and living trees (primarily hardwoods, but sometimes on
conifers); causing a white rot; fall, winter, and early spring;
common; widely distributed in North America. Oyster
mushrooms kill nematodes and bacteria with impunity; see
George Barron's micro-pictures, beginning here. For fungal
fans, this is the equivalent of watching lions kill gazelles on
the Nature Channel.

Cap: 4-15 cm; convex, becoming flat or somewhat depressed;

kidney-shaped to fan-shaped, or nearly circular if growing on the
tops of logs; somewhat greasy when young and fresh; smooth;
pale brown to dark brown; the margin inrolled when young, later
wavy, never lined.

Gills: Running down the stem; close; whitish or with a gray

tinge, sometimes yellowish in age; often filled with black beetles,
in my collecting areas.
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.

Flesh: Thick; white.

Odor and Taste Odor distinctive but hard to describe (see

above); taste mild.

Spore Print: Whitish to grayish or lilac. Be sure to check out

George Barron's photo and essay on what can only be called
the Mother of All Spore Prints, produced by an oyster
mushroom.

Microscopic Features: Spores 8-10.5 x 3-3.5 ; smooth;

cylindrical to narrowly kidney-shaped. These are the
measurements given by Petersen & Krisai-Greilhuber (1994) for
an epitype collection of Pleurotus ostreatus, and they match
measurements supported by various mating studies. Field
guides quote a large range of measurements,
conflating Pleurotus ostreatus with other members of the
species complex.

REFERENCES: (Jacquin, 1774) Kummer, 1871. (Fries, 1821; Saccardo,

1887; Kauffman, 1918; Smith, 1975; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1979; Weber & Smith,
1985; Arora, 1986; States, 1990; Phillips, 1991/2005; Lincoff, 1992; Metzler & Metzler,
1992; Guzman et al., 1994; Petersen & Krisai-Greilhuber, 1994; Zervakis & Balis,
1996; Evenson, 1997; Barron, 1999; Roody, 2003; McNeil, 2006; Miller & Miller, 2006;
Kuo, 2007; Binion et al., 2008; Petersen et al., no date.) Herb. Kuo 12080101,
03150301.

MushroomExpert.Com
Further Online Information:

A study of Pleurotus by Petersen, Hughes & Psurtseva can be

found here, at the University of Tennessee. The study presents
the results of "mating" experiments and DNA analysis
determining the various species of Pleurotus. The page
for Pleurotus ostreatus can be found here.

Pleurotus ostreatus at Tom Volk's Fungi

Pleurotus ostreatus at MykoWeb
Pleurotus ostreatus at Roger's Mushrooms

Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2005, February). Pleurotus ostreatus: The oyster mushroom. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site:
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/pleurotus_ostreatus.html
Tom Volk's Fungus of the Month for October 1998
This month's fungus is Pleurotus ostreatus, the Oyster mushroom

For the rest of my pages on fungi, please click TomVolkFungi.net

One of my favorite edible mushrooms is the oyster mushroom, which usually goes
under the species name Pleurotus ostreatus. (I'll have more to say about the name
later). It is a delicious edible mushroom and is found throughout the north temperate
zone, almost always on dead hardwood (angiosperm) trees. It can also be (relatively)
easily cultivated on a variety of substrates, so it is making its way onto many
supermarket shelves. In the wild it can often be found in abundance during this time
of year, but I've found it every month from March to November in Wisconsin! It can
be found every month of the
year in more southerly
locations.

Pleurotus species are

characterized by a white spore
print, attached to decurrent
gills, often with an eccentric
(off center) stipe, or no stipe at
all. They always grow on
wood on nature, usually on
dead standing trees or on
fallen logs. The common name
"oyster mushroom" comes
from the white shell-like
appearance of the fruiting body, not from the taste. The taste of the oyster mushroom
varies from very mild to very strong, sometimes sweet with the smell of anise
(licorice). It varies in texture from very soft to very chewy, depending on the strain
and what time of the year you pick it-- they tend to be chewier (and thus more
interesting) during the colder months of the year. You can make a delicious "Oyster
Mushrooms Rockefeller" and a variety of stir-fry dishes.
There is some controversy
about what the species should
be called. Apparently what we
have been calling Pleurotus
ostreatus in North America,
should be classified in at least
three species,
including Pleurotus
ostreatus, Pleurotus
pulmonarius, and an additional
similar species that grows
on Populusspp. (aspen and
cottonwood) species
called Pleurotus
populinus. P.ostreatus and P.
pulmonarius are difficult to distinguish from one another. Young fruiting bodies of P.
pulmonarius are, in fact, lung-shaped (as you might guess from its name), while those
of P. ostreatus are more dimidiate (split into two equal parts). Perhaps the most
valuable distinguishing character is seasonality: P. ostreatus is a late fall and winter
fungus in Europe and North America, while P. pulmonarius fruits from mid-summer
through early fall. See the excellent online treatise on the biological species
in Pleurotus by Ron Petersen, Karen Hughes, and Nadezhda Psurtseva.

Despite what you may have heard or seen or thought about this genus, there are some
species of Pleurotus with substantial stipes. One of the most interesting is Pleurotus
elongatipes, shown to the left. The bottom part of the image is a few of the fruiting
bodies removed from the large cluster (shown above) which is usually attached right
at the base of the host tree. It's very different from the true Oyster mushroom with
which you may be more familiar. I've only seen it a few times. There is another
species, Pleurotus dryinus, which actually has a ring around the stalk.
 One common species that used
to be in the genus Pleurotusis
the elm oyster, Hypsizygus
ulmarius. In our area it is
common on the knot holes in
living or dead box elders, but
it does grow on elm and a
number of other hardwoods. It
was moved out of the
genus Pleurotus because Pleur
otus species cause a white rot
and Hypsizygus causes a
brown rot. For a discussion of
white vs. brown rot see this
page on Phanerochaete chrysosporium.

There are some similar looking fungi that you wouldn't want to eat. One of them is
pictured to the left, Lentinellus ursinus, the bear Lentinellus. They say it is "the only
mushroom that raccoons will spit out." It is extremely bitter and hot to the taste. It has
white spores and belongs in the Tricholomataceae like the oyster mushroom, but it has
serrate (saw-toothed) gill edges. If you look at the basidiospores under the microscope
they are small and amyloid (blue) in Melzer's reagent (the active ingredient of which
is iodine). In addition, the trama (the flesh of the gills) has many amyloid hyphae in it.

It is not known to be poisonous, but I

certainly don't recommend eating it.

Another common mushroom that can

be confused with Pleurotus are Crepidotus species, shown here to the right. They have
a similar lack of a stipe and are attached directly to the wood on which they grow.
They can easily be distinguished if you take a spore print-- the spore print
of Crepidotus species is brown, rather than the white of Pleurotus. So far as I know
they are not poisonous, but I do not recommend eating them-- you certainly will not
have a pleasant dining experience. Their flesh is very thin, and they do not have a
pleasant taste.

I mentioned earlier that Pleurotus species are among the easiest to cultivate. The
picture to the left is Pleurotus sapidus being grown in sawdust substrate. You can also
grow it on natural logs-- it's really very easy. Almost any substrate that contains
cellulose can be used-- straw, waste hulls from agriculture and even toilet apper rolls!
For more information on growing Oyster mushrooms (and also shiitake, morels, hen
of the woods, and an number of other specialty mushrooms) I suggest you contact Joe
Krawczyk and Mary Ellen Kozak at Field and Forest Products in Peshtigo Wisconsin.
Their email address is ffp@mari.net or their 800 number in the USA is 1-800-792-
6220. They sell spawn and also kits to grow your own mushrooms on a wide variety
of substrates.

For a more seasonal

Halloween fungus check out
the Holiday fungi page,
including the jack-o-lantern
mushroom, ergot, the witch's
hat, and the ghost plant.

If you have anything to add,

or if you have corrections or comments, please write to me
at volk.thom@uwlax.edu

This page and other pages are Copyright 2003 by Thomas J. Volk, University of
Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Return to Tom Volk's Fungi Home Page -- http://TomVolkFungi.net