Pleurotus

Dear Fungal Jungal,

The attached attached photo shows mushrooms I found growing on a log in Southern Ontario in October. It is the only green mushroom I have seen. Coupled with that, it has a beautiful yellow gill set that you would think would make it easy to identify. So far no luck.

Many thanks,
Ian

Hi Ian,
You have a Panellus serotinus, also called Pleurotus serotinus in older books. It grows on hardwoods, often birch or aspen, and it is not a bad edible when fresh and young like this.
The golden yellow gills are characteristic, as is the rimose stipe. The olive tones on the cap often develop into a muddy brown as the mushroom ages.
Larry

Wild oysters growing on an inoculated cottonwood stump.

Here are a few oysters growing from cottonwoods in Arizona.

Here is an example of Pleurotus growing on a water birch tree. It is unusual to find such a large fruiting on birch.

Panellus serotinus used to be in the same genus as the oyster mushroom. It favors aspen and sometimes birch, and grows best in a cool, damp autumn setting. Sometimes I've seen it get even larger than it is shown here, but most times it forms fruiting bodies no bigger than your hand.

This collection from a grand fir shows a unique form of what we call Pleurotus pulmonarius. It is a good eater. Few Pleurotus grow well on conifer wood. Collections are rare and limited to mature forests.

This collection of long-stem Oyster mushrooms, Hypsizygus tessulatus, was growing on conifer wood near Holland Lake, Montana.

This image by Kevin Cook shows a Pleurotus ulmaris, aka Hypsizygus tessulatus, growing on box elder in the midwest. This big and tasty mushroom appears in the late fall on hardwoods around the country.

Pleurocybella porrigens, from the UK.

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