Oyster Mushroom
The oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) is a widely cultivated edible mushroom that grows in shelf-like clusters on dead hardwood. It is also a predator: the fungus can trap and digest nematode worms.
The oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) is a widely cultivated edible mushroom that grows in shelf-like clusters on dead hardwood. It is also a predator: the fungus can trap and digest nematode worms.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Oyster Mushroom in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Opisthokonta lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
A Carnivorous Fungus: How Does It Catch Worms?
When wood is low in nitrogen, the mycelium releases a toxin (3-octanone) that paralyzes nematodes, and hyphae penetrate and digest them. The meat supplements the nitrogen-poor wood diet.
Easy to Grow
Oyster mushrooms are grown on straw, sawdust and coffee grounds. They are one of the most important cultivated mushrooms in the world and use agricultural waste efficiently.
Cleaning Up
Like turkey tail, it degrades lignin with powerful enzymes, and experiments show that the fungus can break down hydrocarbons and some pollutants, an approach called mycoremediation. See Bioremediation.
Oyster Mushroom at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Pleurotus ostreatus |
| Kingdom | Fungi |
| Phylum | Basidiomycota |
| Class | Agaricomycetes |
| Order | Agaricales |
| Family | Pleurotaceae |
| Field Guide group | Opisthokonta: Fungi (True Fungi & Lichens) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Shelf-like clusters of oyster-shaped caps with white gills running down the stalk; hyphae that trap and digest nematodes. |
| Order | Agaricales |
| Substrate | Dead wood, straw and sawdust |