Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.) P. Kumm. 1871
Pleurotus ostreatus has a white to grey to brown cap. It is a white rot saprotroph on hardwoods. Obtains nitrogen needs by lassoing, strangling, digesting and absorbing nutrients of nematodes from the inside out. Best eaten when young. Becomes chewier and tough as it ages. May have odor of anise. Fruits in shelves on dead wood of deciduous trees in fall, winter and spring. It is in the Pleurotaceae family of the Agaricales order.
Pleurotus ostreatus