Large Fungi under Beech trees for ID

[tigger]

Wondered if anyone could help me with this fungi. I found it behind my shed, underneath beech/oak and scots pine (predominantly beech/oak) in a very protected area. Coming up from the leaf litter. It's large (heads are about 6in across). I'm in Dorset.

If you need any further info. Just let me know. Could it be an Oyster Mushroom? Pleurotus ostreatus?

[Ditiola]

Hi
Why when you say it is growing in leaf litter do you think it might be a Pleurotus. When Pleurotus grown on wood and has an eccentric stipe?

Have you made a spore print? What colour are the spores? What does it smell like?

You have not given much information at all, but I suggest you might look at Clitocybe. These have white spores and a central stipe (but so do lots of others). (Pleurotus has pale lilac spores) What you need to do is to get some good books (look for book threads on this forum) and they start looking carefully at all a fungus features.

Peter

[tigger]

I've got to be honest I'm a "bee and wasp" person really. I just happened to see this growing in my garden and wondered what it was. No idea how to take a spore print, and had the Pleurotus suggested by someone else (who obviously knows about as much as I do about fungus!). No idea of the smell. Didn't really want to pick it, it was too good to destroy.

Back to the books then for me!

Thanks.

[fairplay]

Just a quick look in a fungus book will tell you Oyster fungi grow on wood and usually (but not always !) has an off centre (eccentric) stem, and will normally be growing in a big bunch (tiers)

It is possible they could be on buried wood, but in your photo we can clearly see a central stem, with decurrent gills (running down the stem) so together with cap colour (despite the flash) I would say you have Clitocybe nebularis.

Neil.

[Ditiola]

Hi Tiger
I was going to be mean and encourage you to work it out for yourself as I think most people learn more that way.

One problem you may encounter with fungi like the Clouded Agaric is that they are very variable in form. Some form neat round caps that stay that shape while others grow to for a very wavy shape, and therefore may not match a particular photo in a book, that’s where you will need to look carefully at all the important features. For a spore print place the cap minus stem on paper and cover to stop it drying out and it should drop its spores onto the paper after several hours.

The Clouded Agaric often grown in rings. Here are two I photographed this year, one with neat round caps and the other with wavy caps

Peter