Skip to main content

Variable Oysterling - Crepidotus variabilis

Oftentimes we can get so caught up in looking where we're going, that we forget to look up. I am especially guilty of this, as I'm always on the lookout for fungi, scanning the sides of paths and fallen logs everywhere I go. It's quite easy to forget that trees are very tall, and that fungi can be found at many heights.

It's a good job I looked up when I was standing beneath a cluster of Variable Oysterlings, or Crepidotus variabilis.

They were growing off a twig on a dead tree. Oysterlings are unlike any other fungi I've seen, as they generally don't have stems and from below look like little circles. From above, they are a kidney shape.


They are relatively common and can be found growing in large groups from late summer to winter.


Characteristics

Habitat: On dead twigs and other decaying material, including at the base of hedgerows.
Cap: 0.5-2cm across, kidney-shaped. White in colour.
Stem: No stem.
Gills: Moderately crowded, radiating from the point of attachment. First white, turning brown with age.
Spore print: Pinkish buff
Season: Late summer to winter
Edibility: Inedible

It should be noted that although they are named Oysterling, not all fungi in this group are edible. The same can be said for Oyster mushrooms. Always make sure you're 100% certain of your identification before eating anything you find.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert. Never eat a mushroom you've found without confirmation that it is edible by an expert.
Labels:

Comments

  1. Optimus Prime26 May 2021 at 11:24

    No doubt this is an excellent post I got a lot of knowledge after reading good luck. Theme of blog is excellent there is almost everything to read, Brilliant post. Shroom bros

    ReplyDelete
  2. silent.john11 August 2021 at 12:13

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown28 January 2022 at 13:24

    I wanted to thank you for this excellent read!! I definitely loved every little bit of it. I have you bookmarked your site to check out the new stuff you post. Mushroom Grow kit

    ReplyDelete
  4. Unknown4 February 2022 at 07:44

    This is a smart blog. I mean it. You have so much knowledge about this issue, and so much passion. You also know how to make people rally behind it, obviously from the responses. golden teachers

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Milky Conecap - Conocybe apala

Often, I will find a mushroom and never be able to work out what it is. I will spend days searching the internet and looking in books, but never able to solve the mystery. It can be really frustrating. This happened to me at the beginning of May, when I was walking home from an appointment and saw a white mushroom poking out of the grass nearby. It was the first time I'd seen a mushroom in over a month, so I was pretty excited about it. I did what I usually do: took pictures, examined it, made notes. Then I went home to do some research, and couldn't find anything. So I forgot about it. Yesterday, whilst I was doing research for another mushroom, I accidentally clicked on a wrong link and ended up on a page describing the Milky Conecap , or Conocybe apala.  I had an "aha!" moment, as I recognised instantly that it was the same mushroom I had spent so long trying to find a name for. Let me tell you, there's nothing more satisfying than putting the final pieces...
2 comments
Read more

Dung Roundhead - Stropharia semiglobata

The start of mushroom season is finally upon us, and I couldn't be more excited. Although the bouts of rain weren't ideal for our wedding last week, they did mean lots of exciting finds during our honeymoon, walking through damp North Wales. I will no doubt make many posts about the intriguing finds we stumbled across during our time away, but I wanted to start at our first fungal encounter, the Dung Roundhead , or Stropharia semiglobata. Scattered across the huge pastures we were walking through were hundreds of them. And though the name suggests they grow exclusively on dung, the majority of them were in fact beside dung. The gills are adnate and ranged in colour depending on the age of the mushroom. Younger ones had a more purplish tinge to them, while the more mature species had black gills. The spore print is a dark purplish-brown colour. Characteristics Habitat:  On or beside dung, usually in pasture. Cap:  1-3cm across, hemispherical. Cream to y...
4 comments
Read more

Fool's Conecap - Conocybe filaris

Winter is long.  And although spring is beginning to shine through the cracks, it's not exactly the most abundant time of year for mushrooms.  Over the last few months I have ventured into parks and woodland in search for signs of the few species that stick around for the colder weather, and though I have been pleasantly surprised on some occasions, it can feel disappointing to find so little after the autumn when mushrooms pop up everywhere you look. Imagine my surprise then, when I found a small cluster in my own garden! They were peeking out of a garden waste bag filled with soil, leaves and other debris. I was so excited about it that I actually did a little bit of a dance! I'd never seen this mushroom before, so I was anxious to get stuck into identifying what it was. I picked one out of the bag to take a closer look and make a spore print. Characteristics Habitat: On soil and debris. Also found in grass. Cap: 1.5cm across, orange, turning...
Post a Comment
Read more