Minnesota Seasons - Golden Oyster Mushroom

Conservation • Description • Habitat • Ecology • Distribution • Taxonomy


Conservation Status
IUCN Red List	not listed
NatureServe	not listed
Minnesota	not listed

Description

Golden Oyster Mushroom is an exotic, attractive, edible mushroom. It is native to eastern Russia, northern China, and Japan. It was introduced and is now naturalized in other parts of Asia and in Europe, Africa, and North and South America. In the United States it occurs from New York and New Jersey west to Minnesota and Iowa. It is uncommon in the southeast and metro regions of Minnesota, absent in the rest of the state. It is found in clusters in deciduous woodlands growing on dead stumps and logs. It gets its nutrients from decaying hardwood (saprobic), especially elm.

The cap is convex, sunken in the center, and ¾″ to 29 ⁄16″ (20 to 65 mm) in diameter. It is bright yellow at first, fading to white from the margins inward as it ages. It is very fragile when mature.

The stalk is white, ¾″ to 2″ (20 to 50 mm) long, and 1 ⁄16″ to 5 ⁄16″ (2 to 8 mm) thick. It is often curved when growing on the side of a log.

The gills are white, closely-spaced, and run down the stalk.

The flesh is thin, white, and edible.

Similar Species

Habitat and Hosts

Hardwood logs

Ecology

Season


Distribution
		Sources 4, 7, 22, 24, 26, 29, 30, 77.
8/11/2024

Occurrence


Taxonomy
Kingdom	Fungi (fungi)
Subkingdom	Dikarya
Division	Basidiomycota (club fungi)
Subdivision	Agaricomycotina (jelly fungi, yeasts, and mushrooms)
Class	Agaricomycetes (mushrooms, bracket fungi, puffballs, and allies)
Subclass	Agaricomycetidae
Order	Agaricales (common gilled mushrooms and allies)
Suborder	Pleurotineae
Family	Pleurotaceae
Genus	Pleurotus (Oyster Mushrooms)

The genus Pleurotus was formerly placed in the family Tricholomataceae. Molecular phylogenetic analysis resulted in several new families, including Pleurotaceae, being separated from Tricholomataceae by 2006.

Subordinate Taxa


Synonyms
Pleurotus cornucopiae ssp. citrinopileatus Pleurotus cornucopiae var. citrinopileatus

Common Names
Golden Oyster Mushroom Yellow Oyster Mushroom

Glossary

Saprobic

A term often used for saprotrophic fungi. Referring to fungi that obtain their nutrients from decayed organic matter.


Visitor Photos

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Greg Watson

Alfredo Colon

Bill Brotzler


Randy S.


Birdybiz


Liz M


Craig Nelson
novice shroom hunter and found these while picking morels


Friesdale Farms
These are growing on 9 different dead Elm logs lying on the ground in our woods….and those are only the logs I can see from our trails.


MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos



Habitat		Habitat


Cluster		Cluster


Gills

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Slideshows

slideshow


Visitor Videos

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Other Videos

golden oyster foraging tips.
dave woodsman

About

Jul 13, 2020

huge score on the golden oysters.

Golden Oyster Mushrooms
Planet Mojo

About

May 23, 2018

I spotted these the other day and had no idea what they were. From my research, it looks as though they are Golden Oyster Mushrooms, but I hope someone out there can confirm that. At any rate, we will be leaving them alone so they can produce millions of spores to create some more. Maybe next year we will eat some. Come fall, we get giant puffballs that are delicious when fried in a little butter and bacon fat. I'll post on that when the time comes.

Golden Oysters Pleurotus Citrinopileatus
Tina Fry

About

May 18, 2016

May 2016

Camcorder


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