12 August 2008 Essex. Photograph copyright Leif Goodwin. Common Name Oyster Mushroom Cap Tongue or bracket shaped, smooth, margin inrolled, cream, pale brown or dark grey, to about 20 cm across Gills Decurrent, broad, white to cream Stem Lateral, +/- woolly at the base, whitish Flesh Firm, white Smell Pleasant Taste Indistinct Season All year Distribution Common Habitat In clusters on living and dead wood, usually from deciduous trees, favouring beech Spore Print Pale lilac Microscopic Features Spores elongated ellipsoidal to cylindrical, smooth (7.5-11) x (3-4) µm2 Edibility Edible and good Notes Take care not to confuse with Pleurotus cornucopiae. This species is widely cultivated in the UK and elsewhere |