Autumn oyster mushroom (Panellus serotinus)
Systematics:- Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
- Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
- Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
- Subclass: Agaricomycetidae (Agaricomycetes)
- Order: Agaricales (Agaric or Lamellar)
- Family: Mycenaceae (Mycene)
- Genus: Panellus (Panellus)
- Species: Panellus serotinus (Autumn Oyster)
- Other names for the mushroom:
- Oyster mushroom late
- Oyster mushroom alder
- Late panelus
- Willow pig
Synonyms:
Oyster mushroom late;
Oyster mushroom alder;
Panelus late;
Willow pig;
Pleurotus serotinus
Hat:
Autumn oyster mushroom cap is fleshy, lobed, size 4-5 cm. Initially, the cap is slightly bent at the edges, later the edges are straight and thin, sometimes uneven. Lightly mucous, fine pubescent, shiny in wet weather. The color of the cap is dark, it can take on all sorts of shades, but more often it is green-brown or gray-brown, sometimes with light yellowish-green spots or gray with a shade of purple.
Plates:
Accumulated, frequent, weakly descending. The edge of the plates is straight. At first, the plates are white, but with age they acquire a dirty grayish-brown hue.
Spore powder:
White.
Leg:
The leg is short, cylindrical, curved, lateral, finely scaly, dense, slightly pubescent. Length 2-3cm, sometimes completely absent.
Pulp:
The pulp is fleshy, dense, in damp weather, watery, yellowish or light, loose. With age, the pulp becomes rubbery and tough. Odorless.
Fruiting:
Autumn oyster mushrooms bear fruit from September to December, until the very snow and frost. For fruiting, a thaw with a temperature of about 5 degrees is enough for him.
Spread:
Autumn oyster mushroom grows on stumps and remains of wood of various deciduous species, preferring wood from maple, aspen, elm, linden, birch and poplar; less common on conifers. Mushrooms grow, in groups they mainly grow together with legs, one above the other, forming something similar to a roof.
Edibility:
Autumn oyster mushroom, conditionally edible mushroom. It can be eaten after pre-boiling for 15 minutes or more. The broth must be drained. You can eat the mushroom only at a young age, later it becomes very tough with a slippery thick skin. Also, the mushroom loses its taste a little after frost, but at the same time remains quite edible.
Video about the autumn Oyster mushroom:
Notes:
Experienced mushroom pickers collect this type of oyster mushroom in large quantities, since it is not damaged by parasites and it grows at a time when there are practically no mushrooms. Oyster mushroom differs from inedible mushrooms similar to it in the non-leathery fleshy flesh of the cap. On an industrial scale, this mushroom is grown in Germany, Japan, Holland and France.