A Mushroom with Gills

Field-Trip to Booker T Washington National Monument Brings up Interesting Flora, Fauna and Fungi! 

One of the fun and unique things we spotted in our field training was this Oyster Mushroom.  As every good Virginia Master Naturalist does, I came home and immediately had to get more information!  So enjoy these photos from today and the information I found afterward, online. Tim Quinn, Victoria Keenum and Don Kelso led this troupe of Naturalists-en-training and did a fantastic job!

BRFAL Virginia Master Naturalists en-training using their field guides for identification

Oyster Mushroom

This mushroom has gills!

Pleurotus is a genus of gilled mushrooms which includes one of the most widely eaten mushrooms, P. ostreatus. Species of Pleurotus may be called oyster, abalone, or tree mushrooms, and are some of the most commonly cultivated edible mushrooms in the world. (No we didn't eat it or cut it to bring home, since this is National Park Service land!)

The caps may be laterally attached (with no stem). If there is a stem, it is normally eccentric and the gills are decurrent along it. The term pleurotoid is used for mushrooms having this general shape.

Pleurotus fungi are found in both tropical and temperate climates throughout the world. Most species of Pleurotus are white-rot fungi on hardwood trees, although some also decay conifer wood.

Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Fungi
Phylum: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Pleurotaceae
Genus: Pleurotus

*Information from Wiki, more here.  

• Visit Booker T Washington National Monument - admission is free. Directions and more info here
• Booker T Nat Monument is in Franklin County, VA - where is Franklin County? Learn more about it here

BRFAL Chapter of Virginia Master Naturalist are all about FUN (gi)! Get outside and see what fun you can find.