? Oyster mushroom Conservation status: Secure
Fruiting body of the Oyster mushroom in the Middlesex Fells Reservation.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Fungi Phylum: Basidiomycota Class: Homobasidiomycetes Order: Agaricales Family: Tricholomataceae Genus: Pleurotus Species: P. ostreatus
Binomial name
Pleurotus ostreatus Champ. Jura. Vosg. 1: 112, 1872

The Oyster mushroom, or Pleurotus ostreatus, is a common mushroom prized for its edibility and lack of confusing look-alikes. It is related to the "king oyster mushroom". Image File history File links Oyster_mushoom_fells. ... A cliff in the Fells. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms (as opposed to folk taxonomy). ... Divisions Chytridiomycota Zygomycota Ascomycota Basidiomycota The Fungi (singular: fungus) are a large group of organisms ranked as a kingdom within the Domain Eukaryota. ... Classes Subdivision Teliomycotina    Urediniomycetes Subdivision Ustilaginomycotina    Ustilaginomycetes Subdivision Hymenomycotina    Homobasidiomycetes- mushrooms    Heterobasidiomycetes- jelly fungi The Division Basidiomycota is a large taxon within the Kingdom Fungi that includes those species that produce spores in a club-shaped structure called a basidium. ... former Orders Subclass Homobasidiomycetidae    Agaricales    Boletales    Cantharellales    Corticiales    Ganodermatales    Gomphales    Hericiales    Hydnales    Hymenochaetales    Polyporales (Aphyllophorales)    Poriales    Russulales    Schizophyllales    Stereales    Thelephorales Subclass Gasteromycetidae    Lycoperdales    Nidulariales    Phallales    Sclerodermatales    Tulostomatales The Class Homobasidiomycetes is a taxonomic division in the Subdivision Hymenomycotina of the Division Basidiomycota (in the Kingdom Fungi). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Species Pleurotus citrinopileatus (The Golden Oyster Mushroom) Pleurotus cystidiosus (The Abalone Mushroom) Pleurotus djamor (The Pink Oyster Mushroom) Pleurotus dryinus Pleurotus eryngii (The King Oyster Mushroom) Pleurotus euosmus (The Tarragon Oyster Mushroom) Pleurotus ostreatus (The Tree Oyster Mushroom) (The Phoenix or Indian Oyster Mushroom) Pleurotus tuberregium (The King Tuber Mushroom... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Binomial name Pleurotus eryngii (De Cand. ...

Name

Both the latin and common name refer to the shape of the fruiting body. The latin pleurotus (sideways) refers to the sideways-growth of the stem with respect to the cap while the latin ostreatus (and the English common name, oyster) refers to the shape of the cap which resembles the bi-valve of the same name. Crassostrea gigas, Marennes-Oléron Crassostrea gigas, Marennes-Oléron Crassostrea gigas, Marennes-Oléron, opened The name oyster is used for a number of different groups of molluscs which grow for the most part in marine or brackish water. ...

Identification

Oyster mushroom on a log.

The oyster is one of the more commonly sought wild mushrooms, though it can also be cultivated on straw and other media. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 83 KB) JPEG of Pleurotus ostreatus by me (Shawn Baker, taken 2004-06-10) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 83 KB) JPEG of Pleurotus ostreatus by me (Shawn Baker, taken 2004-06-10) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Cap

The cap is smooth; oblong and often convex with age; 50-200 mm in diameter; and ranges from white to brown to blue-gray. The margin can be smooth with a slight wave.

Flesh

The flesh of the most common variety is white and can be thin or thick. A range of different colors can be found in the wild and can be cultivated. Yellow, pink, blue, and gray.

Gills and stem

Gills are decurrent (descend down the stem) and attached and white to light yellow. The stem is short, often horizontal and emerging from wood.

Spores

The spores form a white to lilac-gray print on dark media.

Mycelia

The mycelia is white and grows rapidly. Mycelium is the vegetative part of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching threadlike hyphae that exists below the ground or within another substrate. ...

Location

This is a wide-spread mushroom in much of North America and other continents. Grows on dead wood year round. All strains need moist conditions to fruit, although different strains fruit in different temperature ranges. World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ...

References

• Stamets & Chilton, The Mushroom Cultivator, 1983
• Stamets, Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms (Third Edition), 2000
• National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms, 1997

Paul Stamets next to Bridgeoporus (Oxyporus) nobilissimus. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Paul Stamets next to Bridgeoporus (Oxyporus) nobilissimus. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Pleurotus ostreatus

• Culinary information regarding oysters
• The effect of Pleurotus ostreatus on cholesterol absorption
• General information including growing oyster mushrooms, market data, and more.