Elm Oyster
Scientific name: Hypsizygus ulmarius
Synonyms: Elm oyster, Shirotamogitake, Da Yu Mo
Natural habitat: The elm oyster is distributed all over the temperate climate zones in deciduous and mixed woodland where it grows mainly on elm, beech or oak trees. During the last centuries the population decreased, so it is not advisable to collect this mushroom from the woods.
Appropriate substrate: Wheat straw, hardwood (most suitable: oak, beech, plum, maple, elm, birch, alder, ash)
Usage: Edible mushroom
The Elm oyster is a delicious edible mushroom that can be used like other Oyster mushrooms. On the market this mushroom is usually sold as “Oyster mushroom” but it produces larger fruit bodies than other Oysters. The colour of the fruiting bodies is white to light grey or light brown, depending on substrate and habitat.
Taxonomy:
Kingdom: Fungi
Class: Basidiomycota
Subclassis: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Tricholomataceae
Genus: Hypsizygus
Species: H. ulmarius
Spores: white, round to ovoid, diameters 3-5 µ