738 



ADDITIONAL EXERCISES 



Pleurotiis oslreatus. Oyster Mushroom (Edible) 



Cap either sessile or stipitate, shell-shaped or dimidiate, ascending, fleshy, soft, 

 smooth, moist, in color white, cream, grayish to brownish ash; stem present or absent 

 (if present, short, firm, elastic, ascending, base hairy); gills white, decurrent, some- 

 what distant, anastomosing behind to form an irregular network. 



Cap 3 to 5 inches broad; mostly cespitose imbricated (Fig. 265). 



A very fine edible species, growing on limbs or trunks of living or dead trees, of 

 cosmopolitan distribution, appearing from early summer until late fall. 



Fig. 265. — Sporophores of oyster toadstool {Pleurotus oslreatus). {After Patter- 

 son, Flora W., and Charles, Vera K., Bull. 175, U. S. Dept. Agric. pi. vii, Apr. 29, 

 191S.) 



Pleurotus sapidus (Edible) 



This species very closely resembles Pleurotus ostrealus and is distinguished from 

 it by the lilac-tinged spores, a character difficult or impossible for the amateur to 

 detect. From the mycophagist's point of view, these two species are equally 

 attractive. 



Pleurotus serotinus (Edible) 



Cap fleshy, compact, convex or nearly plane, dimidiate reniform, suborbicular, 

 edge involute, finally wavy, smooth, yellowish-green, sooty olive, or reddish-brown, 

 in wet weather with a viscid pellicle; gills close, distinct, whitish or yellowish, 

 minutely tomentose or squamulose with blackish points. 



Cap I to 3 inches broad. 



