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Oyster mushroom

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iOyster mushroom

Image:Oyster mushoom fells.jpg

Fruiting body of the Oyster mushroom in the Middlesex Fells Reservation.

Conservation status

Secure

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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

Pleurotus ostreatus mycological characteristics:	?
Image:Gills icon.png gills on hymenium
Image:No cap icon.png Image:Offset cap icon.png no distinct cap or offset
Image:Decurrent gills icon2.png hymenium is decurrent
Image:Bare stipe icon.png stipe is bare
Image:White spore print icon.png spore print is white
Image:Saprophytic ecology icon.png ecology is saprophytic
Image:Choice toxicity icon.png edibility: choice

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". Oyster mushrooms can also be used industrially for mycoremediation purposes.

1 Name
2 Identification
3 Location
4 Additional Information
5 References
6 External links

[edit] 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. Many also believe that the name is fitting due to the flavor resemblance to oysters.

[edit] Identification

The oyster is one of the more commonly sought wild mushrooms, though it can also be cultivated on straw and other media.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Spores

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

[edit] Mycelia

The mycelia is white and grows rapidly.

[edit] Location

The Oyster Mushroom is wide-spread in temperate forests throughout the world. It grows on dead wood year round and all strains need moist conditions to fruit although different strains fruit in different temperature ranges.

[edit] Additional Information

Oyster mushrooms are a source of statin drugs. The oyster mushroom is also one of the few known carnivorous mushrooms. Its mycelia can kill and digest nematodes. This is believed to be a way to obtain nitrogen.