Branching Oyster Fungus ID Confirmation Please.

[Lancashire Lad]

Found this today, and am reasonably sure it's Branching Oyster Fungus - Pleurotus cornucopiae, but would appreciate confirmation/other.

I'm thinking it's much too white for normal Pleurotus austriatus, and the stipes are too long and not lateral enough to suggest Pleurotus pulmonarius (Pale Oyster). Largest caps were about 10-12cm across.



Regards,
Mike.

[Chris Yeates]

that's what I would call it, Mike

[Andy Overall]

Originally Posted by Lancashire Lad

Found this today, and am reasonably sure it's Branching Oyster Fungus - Pleurotus cornucopiae, but would appreciate confirmation/other.

I'm thinking it's much too white for normal Pleurotus austriatus, and the stipes are too long and not lateral enough to suggest Pleurotus pulmonarius (Pale Oyster). Largest caps were about 10-12cm across.



Regards,
Mike.

Hi Mike,

I don't think what you have there is P. cornucopiae but more likely P. pulmonarius. The former is most common on dead elm, the latter on various trees, this would help for ID. If it were the former species it would have distinctly raised, vein-like ridges down the stem that follow on from the gills. There is a picture of this charateristic in the A to Z.


Andy

[Lancashire Lad]

Originally Posted by Andy Overall

Hi Mike,

I don't think what you have there is P. cornucopiae but more likely P. pulmonarius. The former is most common on dead elm, the latter on various trees, this would help for ID. If it were the former species it would have distinctly raised, vein-like ridges down the stem that follow on from the gills. There is a picture of this charateristic in the A to Z.


Andy

Hi Andy,

I don't think the dead trunk was Elm (or Oak which is also a common host of P.cornucopiae), more likely Beech in this instance. But I understand that it does crop up quite frequently on several other deciduous trees.

I've looked at quite a lot of images of both P.cornucopiae, and P.pulmonarius, (inc. WAB's A to Z), to try to establish which of the two this is, and note that only some of the images show P.cornucopiae with the distinct veining all the way down the stem. On a couple of the fruitbodies in my photo these veins, which are presumably just a continuation of the heavily decurrent gills, do go all the way down the stems. (descriptions I've read say this veining "frequently occurs").

I also read descriptions advising that P.cornucopiae is a spring to autumn fruiting fungus, (which would fit here), and that it is quite common. Whereas P.pulmonarius is supposedly autumn fruiting, and only occasional. (I appreciate that such details are only guidelines, but presumably offer the balance of probability).

I have another photo (Below) of part of the same group (but which, unfortunately, was in complete shade at the time), showing more of the tops of the caps, which are seen to have an ochracious tinge which I think would also fit more with P.cornucopiae.

I must admit that with the images I've looked at, along with other info on both species, I'm still inclined to think it's P.cornucopiae.

Would you still favour P.pulmonarius?

Regards
Mike.

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by Lancashire Lad

. . . . I'm still inclined to think it's P.cornucopiae.

Would you still favour P.pulmonarius?

Regards
Mike.

so am I Mike - those gills are strongly decurrent in typical cornucopiae fashion; pulmonarius as I understand it is also laterally-stemmed (or even stemless) yours appear to be more centrally stemmed - but of course you have seen the whole thing . . . .

while cornucopiae boomed at the time of DED, it is by no means restricted to Ulmus; FRDBI has 140 records on Fagus (78 on Fagus for P. pulmonarius)

cheers

Chris

[Lancashire Lad]

Originally Posted by Chris Yeates

so am I Mike - those gills are strongly decurrent in typical cornucopiae fashion; pulmonarius as I understand it is also laterally-stemmed (or even stemless) yours appear to be more centrally stemmed - but of course you have seen the whole thing.....

Hi Chris,


Another photo from the group, (unfortunately again in heavy shade), that shows (hopefully) the generally central depression in the cap above the point where the decurrent gills would be forming down the stipe. This was typical of most of the more developed individual fruitbodies, and would, (I think), point in the direction of P.cornucopiae.

I would like to submit this photo: -

To WAB Gallery, so I was hoping if at all possible to be confident of species ID, rather than just putting Pleurotus sp.
Regards
Mike.

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by Lancashire Lad

Hi Chris,


Another photo from the group, (unfortunately again in heavy shade), that shows (hopefully) the generally central depression in the cap above the point where the decurrent gills would be forming down the stipe. This was typical of most of the more developed individual fruitbodies, and would, (I think), point in the direction of P.cornucopiae.

Regards
Mike.

that more than points in the direction. I feel - where is Andreas to put the cap on this? (no pun intended - well not much)

I'm sure that isn't pulmonarius cap "fan-shaped, spathulate or semicircular" according to Funga Nordica while the same work has "Cap . . . .convex, later depressed to umbilicate" for cornucopiae

cheers

Chris

[Andy Overall]

Originally Posted by Lancashire Lad

Hi Andy,

I don't think the dead trunk was Elm (or Oak which is also a common host of P.cornucopiae), more likely Beech in this instance. But I understand that it does crop up quite frequently on several other deciduous trees.

I've looked at quite a lot of images of both P.cornucopiae, and P.pulmonarius, (inc. WAB's A to Z), to try to establish which of the two this is, and note that only some of the images show P.cornucopiae with the distinct veining all the way down the stem. On a couple of the fruitbodies in my photo these veins, which are presumably just a continuation of the heavily decurrent gills, do go all the way down the stems. (descriptions I've read say this veining "frequently occurs").

I also read descriptions advising that P.cornucopiae is a spring to autumn fruiting fungus, (which would fit here), and that it is quite common. Whereas P.pulmonarius is supposedly autumn fruiting, and only occasional. (I appreciate that such details are only guidelines, but presumably offer the balance of probability).

I have another photo (Below) of part of the same group (but which, unfortunately, was in complete shade at the time), showing more of the tops of the caps, which are seen to have an ochracious tinge which I think would also fit more with P.cornucopiae.

I must admit that with the images I've looked at, along with other info on both species, I'm still inclined to think it's P.cornucopiae.

Would you still favour P.pulmonarius?

Regards
Mike.

Going by your second picture and the fact that this was growing on Beech I would go with P. ostreatus , the paler forms look more like P. pulmonarius but of course could be pale P. ostreatus. I would strongly bet against these beingP. cornucopiae. In my estimation P. cornucopiae is not as common as the former two species and I would say, even though it does occur more rarely on other trees, such as Beech it is still most likely to be seen on dead or dying Elm. The umbilicate nature of the cap and the raised vein-like ridges on the stem are good characteristics for this species.

Andy

[Lancashire Lad]

Originally Posted by Andy Overall

Going by your second picture and the fact that this was growing on Beech I would go with P. ostreatus , the paler forms look more like P. pulmonarius but of course could be pale P. ostreatus. I would strongly bet against these beingP. cornucopiae....

Hi Andy,

I don't think that the photos taken in the dark shade do justice to the true colour of the fungus. The photos in the original post are nearest to actual, with the caps having the slightest of ochracious tinge. The other photos appear to show the fungus much darker than it actually was, but as mentioned these were in very dark shade, and haven't come out true to life.

I appreciate what you are saying about P.ostreatus, but I'm as convinced as I possibly can be that this fungus isn't P.ostreatus. I have seen considerable amounts of that throughout this particular wood and it is very easily identified. Whereas this, in comparison is completely different. What little colour there is on these cap tops, is completely unlike the colour seen on previously found P.ostreatus here.

These photos are typical of the P.ostreatus found in this wood: -


If there is such a thing as an almost white variety of P.ostreatus, then I suppose it could be that, but it just doesn't have the P.ostreatus look about it to me. It's hard to describe to someone who isn't familiar with the particular location, but as soon as I saw it (due to its glaring whiteness, it was visible from quite some distance away), I knew it was something that I hadn't seen previously.

Regards
Mike.

[FungiJohn]

I'm with Andy on this one Mike.

I would suggest your species is Pleurotus pulmonarius also.

Pleurotus cornucopiae is generally 'branched' (or a better word would be 'fused') rather than tiered.

This example hopefully shows it clearly:



John