Summary of Interesting Results Here are some of the newest, most interesting results of the study: tbd

Pleurotus (Pleurotaceae) - click to expand The "real" oyster mushrooms. Large, off-white caps (tan or grey), smooth gill edges, short eccentric or lateral stem, predominantly growing on hardwoods. Species in this family can trap and consume nematodes so they are carnivorous. Species mentioned: Pleurotus ostreatus, pulmonarius, populinus, dryinus.   Pleurotus ostreatus EU - perhaps a darker greyish cap than P. pulmonarius with a spore print that has a lilac tinge, otherwise very similar. BC, WA and OR sequences are 2-3 bp and 2 indels different than the EU type sequences, but EU sequences can vary by 3 bp too. It should be checked if conifer collections are really the same species. Pleurotus 'pulmonarius PNW02' - perhaps a paler cap than P. ostreatus and a dull tan/cream spore print. Perhaps found on conifers too. Very difficult to tell apart. There are 2 competing concepts in the EU for what the real species is. North American sequences match "#2", Panek's concept and Li's second concept, except for 1 bp and 1 long indel of length 8, which isn't a lot of difference. There's a good chance that means we do have species #2 here, which means we have a 50/50 chance of having the real thing. Some call it Pleurotus #7. Don't expect the cap colours to always be as distinct between species as the photos suggest. Pleurotus populinus NA - much like P. pulmonarius with its paler cap and buff spores, but more reliably on cottonwood and aspen east of the cascades, with a somewhat peachy-pink cap, more distant gills and longer spores. We have one EWA sequence that matches reliable sequences from back east. Just for fun Yi-Min sequenced a store-bought oyster mushroom, to see if it really is P. ostreatus like they say. It appears that at least that particular store bought oyster mushroom is closer to the Florida species Pleurotus floridanus than it is to the EU species P. ostreatus that can also be found here. Pleurotus ostreatus © Daniel Winkler,     P. 'pulmonarius PNW02' © Buck McAdoo,     P. populinus © Noah Siegel   Pleurotus dryinus EU - the veiled oyster. The veil wears off in age, but it has a scaly off-white cap and is tougher fleshed than the others. Our sequences are almost a perfect match to many EU sequences. unsequenced Pleurotus dryinus © Michael Beug

Hohenbuehelia (Pleurotaceae) - click to expand Somewhat gelatinous flesh and metuloid cystidia, but in practice hard to tell apart from other genera. Species in this family can trap and consume nematodes so they are carnivorous. Species mentioned: Hohenbuehelia angustata, cyphelliformis, mastrucata, petaloides, tremula, thornii, unguicularis, nigra. Resupinatus niger.   Hohenbuehelia tremula EU (Hohenbuehelia petaloides EU misapplied) - unique for sometimes being found on the ground on buried wood, as well as attached to logs. Medium sized (~5cm) shoehorn shaped brown cap and stem (dark or pale brown) usually found in the spring. It was long thought that our local species was Hohenbuehelia petaloides EU, but a WA and OR sequence are much closer to a type sequence of the lookalike H. tremula, which has larger spores (>7.5u). Our local sequences are a few bp different from the type of H. tremula, but EU and local sequences intermingle so I think ours is the real species. Perhaps local collectors who thought they were finding H. petaloides were not checking the spore size carefully enough, but I think some sources were inaccurate about what spore sizes to expect. If you think you actually find H. petaloides, with spores generally <7.5x4.5u, save it. Hohenbuehelia thornii EU - this lookalike on soil is said to have a gelatinous cap cuticle and is usually found in the fall. It was not known from the PNW until discovered by DNA. We have two WA collections matching the ITS type sequence exactly. The mature photo suggests a tan to grey cap. Hohenbuehelia 'tremula PNW01' © Brandon Matheny and Andrew Parker,     H. thornii © Yi-Min Wang and Buck McAdoo   Hohenbuehelia 'angustata PNW02' - a very non-descript tan oyster resembling a medium sized (5 cm or so) stemless Pleurotus. Unlike the above H. petuloides-like species, this grown on logs, has gills that go most or all of the way to the wood, and a convex tan cap instead of a shoehorn shape. Our two local sequences are 6 bp and 2 ambiguous locations different from an east coast type sequence of this Ohio species. Many east coast sequences match the type exactly, so ours probably needs a new name. H. angustata was reported from here 50 years ago, and only now are we figuring out what those finds probably represented. Hohenbuehelia cf mastrucata EU - a beautiful, larger (~5 cm) grey scaly stemless oyster covered in gelatinous spines with close, pale gills, found on logs. We have an EU type sequences, but need local sequences to verify that is what is being found here. Hohenbuehelia 'angustata PNW02' © Andrew Parker,     H. cf. mastrucata © Leah Bendlin   Hohenbuehelia 'auriscalpium PNW03' - a smaller, tan to grey earpick shaped (distinctly stemmed) Hohenbuehelia on logs, with some cap scurfiness. It was never known from the PNW before this WA collection. Tan and scurfy when young, it appears to become grey and scaly/furry in age, like the larger stemless H. mastrucata. Our sequences are 4% different in ITS from EU type area sequences. Hohenbuehelia 'auriscalpium PNW03' © Yi-Min Wang, Alan Rockefeller and Harte Singer (2 images)   The following tiny, fuzzy grey oysters (a few mm across) with elliptical spores and metuloids are reported from the PNW, and we have all their type sequences, but we don't have local DNA of any of them yet to figure out which ones are really here. We need collections of them all. One report is of a species of Resupinatus with metuloids that is therefore difficult to differentiate from Hohenbuehelia, but the Resupinatus has more closely spaced gills. What we have found locally so far is a tiny, black Resupinatus without metuloids and with round spores, discussed on the Resupinatus page. Hohenbuehelia cf cyphelliformis UK - very small (<1 cm) grey felty cap and bright white distant gills (just a few of them). There have been only a couple unverified reports from BC. Hohenbuehelia cf unguicularis EU - another very small (<1 cm) grey felty capped oyster with darker widely spaced gills. Rumour has it that it has been found in BC, perhaps up north. See also Resupinatus, next. We need collections of all of them for verification.

Resupinatus (Resupinataceae) - click to expand They are very small pleurotoids (a few mm across) that are grey to black in colour usually with a completely absent stem. They are usually separated from some very similar tiny Hohenbuehelia by their lack of metuloid cystidia, although, unfortunately, one species does have metuloids and is therefore very difficult to separate from Hohenbuehelia. Species mentioned: Resupinatus applicatus, kavinae, niger, striatulus.   Resupinatus PNW01 - a black capped, round spored species, with closely spaced gills that appears to stain black. It has gone by the names Resupinatus applicatus EU and Resupinatus striatulus EU but we have both of those type sequences, and so far, three PNW collections sequence to be an unnamed species and neither of those. If you think you find either R. applicatus or R. striatulus instead, save it, otherwise I am going to assume that neither species is actually here. Resupinatus niger EU - also with closely spaced dark gills, but with elliptical spores and metuloids, so this is easily mistaken for species of Hohenbuehelia. It is especially similar to Hohenbuehelia unguicularis which also has dark gills, but those are more widely spaced, and this Resupinatus will not eat nematodes (but that is a difficult test to make). We have type sequences of both R. niger and all the Hohenbuehelia reported from the PNW, but no local collections to find out what our elliptical spored, metuloid species really are. Resupinatus kavinae Russia - a medium brown with few gills. We have some sequences that might be from the EU and one WA collection matches those, so I think this is what it is.   Resupinatus PNW01 © Lauren Ré (2 images),     R. kavinae © Matthew Koons

Back to Main Menu