34 



MINNESOTA MUSHROOMS 



Frequent in towns and cities on the trunks of living trees, especially elms, 

 growing from injuries or knot-holes, often 20-30 feet from the ground, late summer 

 until severe frosts. The flesh is firm, or in old specimens quite tough, but the flavor 

 makes this one of the best of the edil)le species. 



Pleurotus ostreatus Oyster Cap 



Cap large, 7-24 cm. wide, white, gray or tan, smooth or more or less scaly in 

 age, convex or plane, shelf- or shell-shaped, more or less lobed and torn at the 

 margin ; stem short and lateral, or none, white, solid, more or less hairy at base ; 

 gills long-decurrent, connected by veins on the stem, white or yellowish ; spores 

 elliptic, 8-10 X 4-5/u. The name refers to the shell- or oyster-shaped cap. 



Overlapping in dense clusters on stumps and trunks, spring to autumn; some- 

 what tough but of ex- ; 

 cellent flavor. 



Pleurotus sapidus 

 Shell Cap 



Cap large, 5-12 

 cm. wide, w^hite to 

 gray, tan or brownish, 

 smooth, convex or flat, 

 shell-shaped ; stem 

 short, strongly excen- 

 tric or lateral or none ; 

 gills long-decurrent, 

 whitish or yellowish ; 

 spores elliptic, lilac- 

 tinted in mass, 8-12 X 4-6;u. The name refers to the savory nature of the cap. 



This can be distinguished from the Oyster Cap only by the lilac tint of the 

 spores. To the beginner, there is no important dift'erence between them. 



Figure 21. Pleurotus applicatus 



Pleurotus petaloides Petal Cap 



Cap small to medium, 3-10 cm. long by 1-5 cm. wide, brownish or reddish- 

 brown or sometimes whitish, smooth, wedge-shaped, shell-like or spatula-like; stem 

 short, 1-2 cm. tall, whitish, more or less hairy; gills long-decurrent, white or 

 gray, narrow and crowded, dotted with bristles or cystidia ; spores elliptic, 8- 

 9 X 4|u.. The name refers to the shape of the cap. 



In clusters on stumps, on branches or roots buried in the ground, late summer 

 and autumn; edible. 



Pleurotus applicatus Inverted Pleurotus 



Cap very small, 3-7 mm. wide, gray, bluish-gray or blackish, smooth or hairy, 

 usually inverted, more rarely shelf-like, saucer-shaped ; stem lacking ; gills gray 



