Abiquiu News
  • Home
    • News 05/23/2025
    • News 05/16/2025
    • News 05/09/2025
    • News 05/02/2025
    • News 04/25/2025
    • News 04/18/2025
    • News 04/11/2025
    • News 04/04/2025
    • News 03/28/2025
    • News 03/21/2025
    • News 03/14/2025
    • News 03/07/2025
    • News 02/28/2025
    • News 02/21/2025
    • News 02/14/2025
    • News 02/07/2025
    • Criteria for Submissions
  • News and Features
  • Dining
  • Lodging
  • Arts
  • Bloom Blog
  • Activities / Classes
    • Birding
  • Tech Tips
  • Classifieds
  • Real Estate
  • Real Estate by Owner
  • Support
  • Home
    • News 05/23/2025
    • News 05/16/2025
    • News 05/09/2025
    • News 05/02/2025
    • News 04/25/2025
    • News 04/18/2025
    • News 04/11/2025
    • News 04/04/2025
    • News 03/28/2025
    • News 03/21/2025
    • News 03/14/2025
    • News 03/07/2025
    • News 02/28/2025
    • News 02/21/2025
    • News 02/14/2025
    • News 02/07/2025
    • Criteria for Submissions
  • News and Features
  • Dining
  • Lodging
  • Arts
  • Bloom Blog
  • Activities / Classes
    • Birding
  • Tech Tips
  • Classifieds
  • Real Estate
  • Real Estate by Owner
  • Support

The Oyster in my Woods

11/6/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
This year I have spent a lot of time in the woods to escape the parched earth and the relentless heat during the hottest summer I ever remember. In the woods it was still cool and moist, and although mushrooming was poor overall, I still found some of these fungal fruiting bodies growing in the usual places.
 
Recently I was delighted to discover an oyster mushroom cluster growing on a dead poplar tree. I love these pearl white oysters because of their graceful clustering shapes, and of course, they are edible – especially tasty when young. They first begin appearing in June and can be found throughout the summer and sometimes, like this year, during the fall.
 
How does drought affect the timing of emerging mushrooms, I wonder. Does the underlying mycelium take advantage of rains that come at unusual times and begin fruiting when conditions are right?
 
We have two common species of oyster mushrooms that grow in our area –Pleurotus populinus grows only on poplar and aspen trees. It has a white spore print and an ivory colored fruiting body and P. ostreatus grows on hardwoods like sugar maples and beech. It has wheat or grayish caps, and a lavender spore print. This latter species is more common in the fall.

​The gills are fairly close together and run down the stem which is usually non – existent. However, the two species overlap; I’ve seen both growing around the same time. Both species have an anise –like aroma. Other Oysters appear periodically.
 
For anyone new at mushrooming, taking a spore print is a reliable way to identify a mushroom and very simple to do. All one needs is a piece of black and white paper.
 
When the mushroom has opened pluck two caps and place each under a jar, one on each of the two papers. I wait a full 24 hours before checking any print. For P populinus the spore print is white, so if you want to see it more clearly a piece of black paper works more effectively, I think. With this much said, this particular mushroom is so distinctive from a visual standpoint that I have never actually seen a print of it because I have never taken one!
 
The artist in me loves mushroom spore prints; I have sometimes sprayed some to keep for a while because I find the patterns astonishingly beautiful.
 
 Oyster mushrooms can be found in many supermarkets across the country because they are so popular. Not only are they tasty but they have medicinal value as well. There is mounting evidence that oysters are useful in the treatment of various cancers.
 
When I find a cluster I sauté them in olive oil with garlic as soon as possible. Otherwise they become quite chewy.
 
There is one oyster mushroom that should be avoided:  ‘Angel Wings’. This one grows on conifers and the clusters are thin and white. They don’t look like other oyster mushrooms to me. There are other oysters around with dubious qualities. I always err on the safe side when collecting any mushroom I eat. For that reason I stick to P populinus and P. ostreatus  because I know I can identify them.
 
Paul Stamets, a prominent mycologist has demonstrated that strains of oyster mushrooms can break down the structure of hydrocarbon molecules effectively cleaning up pollutants like diesel fuel, oil, gasoline, and PCB’s – No small feat. If only our present culture would fund the necessary research we could begin using this natural and organic means of dealing with our human induced waste.
 
Oyster mushrooms are sometimes used for dying wool.
 
Pleurotus fungi are found in both tropical and temperate climates throughout the world. Most species act as white rot fungi on hardwoods (and some conifers) meaning that the fungus eventually breaks down decaying wood turning it into soil.
 
One fascinating fact is that all species catch nematodes by paralyzing them with a toxin.
 
Because I spend so much time in New Mexico I had to research whether or not oyster mushrooms could be found there and I wasn’t disappointed. At the higher elevations (above 7000 feet) these mushrooms can be found in wooded places during monsoon season. I am guessing that some might be found on the Pedernal. Unfortunately New Mexico is suffering from severe drought and wildfires that destroy the trees on which these fungi grow, but apparently oyster mushrooms have been found recently in the mountains around Taos and Sante Fe. A guardedly hopeful note.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Submit your ideas for local feature articles
    Profiles
    Gardening
    Recipes
    Observations
    Birding
    ​Essays
    ​Hiking

    Authors

    You!
    Regular contributors
    Sara Wright Observations
    Brian Bondy
    Hilda Joy
    Greg Lewandowski
    ​Zach Hively
    Jessica Rath
    ​AlwayzReal

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018

    Categories

    All
    AlwayzReak
    AlwayzReal
    Brian
    Felicia Fredd
    Fools Gold
    Hikes
    History
    Jessica Rath
    Karima Alavi
    Observations
    Profiles
    Recipes
    Reviews
    Rocks And Fossils
    Sara Wright
    Tina Trout
    Zach Hively

    RSS Feed

affiliate_link