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Oyster mushrooms are found in the wild, they are also grown commercially and at home. They are common in Europe, America, Asia. In Our Country, they grow in Siberia, the Far East, and the Caucasus. They prefer temperate climates and are cold tolerant. Photos of oyster mushrooms and their description are presented in the article.
What are oyster mushrooms
Oyster mushrooms are edible agaric mushrooms. In the natural environment, they grow on the remains of deciduous trees, stumps, fallen trees, branches, deadwood. They prefer oak, mountain ash, birch, willow, aspen. Rarely found on conifers. On vertical trunks, they are usually located high. They grow in groups in more than one tier, while they form bunches of several fruiting bodies – up to 30 pieces. Rarely found alone.
Oyster mushrooms are cultivated on an industrial scale and grown at home. Along with champignons, these are one of the most popular mushrooms presented in the distribution network. The most common is ordinary, or oyster.
Photo of oyster mushrooms growing in the wild
What do oyster mushrooms look like
In appearance, oyster mushrooms are similar to each other. They consist of a cap, which smoothly passes into a stem, tapering towards the base. The latter in most species is not pronounced, short, often lateral, and curved. Color – white, gray or yellowish. In length, it reaches 5 cm, in thickness – up to 3 cm.
The cap is solid, thinner towards the edges. The shape can be different: oval, round, horn-shaped, fan-shaped, funnel-shaped. Diameter – from 5 to 17 cm, in some species – up to 30 cm.
The color of mushrooms depends on its type.
Oyster mushrooms are white, light gray, cream, pinkish, lemon, ash-violet, grayish-brown.
The plates are descending, the spores are cream, white or pinkish.
The pulp of a young specimen is elastic, thick, juicy. In older ones, it becomes fibrous and tough. Different varieties of oyster mushrooms with a description are presented below.
Are oyster mushrooms edible
These mushrooms are edible or conditionally edible. Even those that do not taste good can be eaten, because they are not poisonous.
It is recommended to eat young specimens, no larger than 10 cm in size, without a hard leg.
Mushrooms contain all useful substances necessary for humans: vitamins, amino acids, carbohydrates, fats, microelements. They are rich in iron, potassium, calcium, iodine. Of the vitamins in the composition there are C, E, D2, PP, representatives of group B.
Oyster mushrooms can be fried, stewed, baked, salted, added to sauces, used as an additional ingredient in other dishes. Use them only after heat treatment. They contain chitin, which is not absorbed by the body, so the mushrooms need to be finely chopped and cooked at high temperatures.
The aroma resembles the smell of fresh rye bread, it tastes like russula.
Types of oyster mushrooms in the forest with a photo and description
There are several dozen varieties of oyster mushrooms. The division is rather arbitrary. The classification depends on the type of tree on which they grow. A photo and description of forest oyster mushrooms is presented below.
oyster
Another name is oyster mushrooms. These edible mushrooms grow in temperate mixed and deciduous forests. Inhabit the remains of wood: deadwood, rotten stumps, branches. Sometimes they are found on live weakened oaks, aspens, birches.
They form multi-tiered colonies, merging fruiting bodies into bundles.
The hat is 5-15 cm in diameter. The color is from light gray to ashy with a purple tint. The pulp is thick, with a pleasant mushroom smell and taste with hints of anise.
It bears fruit from August until frost in early December.
covered
Other names for oyster mushrooms are single, sheathed. In a young mushroom, the shape of the cap is kidney-shaped, sessile, in a mature mushroom it is fan-shaped, the edges are wrapped down. Diameter – from 3 to 5 cm, sometimes reaches 8 cm. The color is grayish-brown or flesh-brown. The plates are wide yellowish, it has a light cover, which is torn in the process of growth and is preserved in the form of rather large flaps. The pulp is thick, dense, whitish, with the smell of raw potatoes. There are practically no legs. Fruiting from April to June. It grows in groups, but not in clusters, but singly. Found in northern and central Europe. Refers to edible, suitable for eating in fried and boiled form. Differs in rigidity because of dense pulp.
A distinctive feature of a single oyster mushroom is a bedspread on the plates
corniculate
The cap is horn-shaped or funnel-shaped, sometimes it is leaf-shaped or tongue-shaped. Size – from 3 to 10 cm in diameter. The surface is smooth, the color is from almost white to grayish-ocher. The pulp is thick, elastic, white, hard and fibrous in old mushrooms. The plates are rare, winding, white, descending, descending to the very base. The leg is pronounced, long – from 3 to 8 cm, its thickness – up to 1,5 cm. Fruits from May to September on dead wood of deciduous trees. Occurs in windfall, clearings, dense shrubs. Considered edible.
Groups of mushrooms can create bizarre shapes
Pulmonary
Other names are spring, whitish, beech. A common edible mushroom with a rounded whitish or creamy cap, reaching a diameter of 4-10 cm. The flesh is firm, white or whitish-grayish, with a pleasant, slight smell of mushrooms. The leg is often lateral, less often central, with hard flesh, off-white, hairy, 4 cm long. It occurs on rotten or weakened living trees, can grow in bunches and in large groups. Fruiting from May to September.
This species differs from others in white
It is considered the most common variety of oyster mushrooms in the forests of Our Country. It grows in the wild, is valued by mushroom pickers.
Oak wood
Quite a rare species, comes across infrequently. The cap is elliptical or rounded, less often tongue-shaped, bent down. Size – from 5 to 10 cm. The color is whitish-grayish or brownish. The surface is covered with small scales, rough. The pulp is thick, light, elastic, with a pleasant smell of mushrooms. On the lamellar layer there is a private cover.
The leg is short, tapers downwards, eccentric, thick. Its length is from 2 to 5 cm, in thickness – from 1 to 3 cm. The color is like a hat or a little lighter, the flesh is white or yellowish, hard and fibrous below.
Grows on dead oaks and other decaying wood of deciduous trees. Fruiting from July to September.
Oak oyster mushroom is distinguished by the scaly surface of the cap and the remnants of the bedspread
Pink
A small, beautiful mushroom with a pink, slightly convex cap, 3 to 5 cm in size. The flesh is light pink with an oily texture. Side leg, short. In nature, it is found more often in the tropical zone, it is adapted to a hot climate, it grows very quickly.
Oyster mushroom prefers warm climates
Lemon
Other names are ilmak, yellow oyster mushroom. Refers to decorative and edible. It occurs in groups, individual specimens grow together with fruiting bodies. The cap is yellow-lemon, the flesh is white, tender in young mushrooms, hard and rough in old ones. Size – from 3 to 6 cm in diameter, sometimes reaching 10 cm. In young people it is thyroid, in old ones it is funnel-shaped, with lobed edges. In mature mushrooms, the color of the cap becomes faded.
The plates are narrow, frequent, descending, pinkish. The powder is whitish or pinkish-purple.
The leg is white or yellowish, first central, then becomes lateral.
You can’t confuse lemon oyster mushroom with other types
Grows in mixed and deciduous forests. Distributed in the south of the Far East. In Primorsky Krai, it grows on elm deadwood and deadwood, in more northern regions – on birch trunks. Fruiting from May to September.
Stepnaya
Another name is royal. The white mushroom has a slightly convex cap at first, which then becomes funnel-shaped. Size – up to 25 cm in diameter. The pulp is white or light yellow, thick, dense, sweetish. The leg is often central, sometimes lateral.
Distributed in the steppe, bears fruit only in spring – from April to May. In the southern regions appears in March. Grows in the steppe and desert zone. Settles not on wood, but on the roots and stems of umbrella plants.
Steppe oyster mushroom is considered a valuable mushroom with high taste qualities.
It resembles a real mushroom and champignon, but the flesh is a little rougher.
Conclusion
Photos of oyster mushrooms of different types can be seen in the article. Wild specimens come in several varieties. Their fruiting bodies are a low-calorie dietary product containing a complete set of elements necessary for the body.
