Angel wings vs oyster mushroom
- Toxic: Angel Wings
Angel wings are pure white, paper-thin and grow on conifer wood. Oyster mushrooms are thicker, often gray or tan, and grow mostly on hardwoods.
King oyster vs oyster mushroom: how to tell them apart
Quick answer
A king oyster has a thick, firm white stem that is the largest part of the mushroom, under a small tan to brown cap; a common oyster mushroom is mostly cap, growing in overlapping shelves on wood with a short stub or no stem. In North America the king oyster is known only from cultivation, so a wild shelf on a log is not a king oyster.
Side by side
The tell for each
Edible
The tellThick white stem, much larger than its small brown cap, with gills running down the stem.
Edible
The tellFan-shaped caps in overlapping shelves on dead hardwood, with white gills running down to a short stub of a stem.
How they differ
| Feature | King Oyster | Oyster Mushroom |
|---|---|---|
| Stem | King OysterThick, firm and white, larger than the cap in cultivated mushrooms. | Oyster MushroomA short stub or none. |
| Cap | King OysterSmall relative to the stem, tan to grayish brown, smooth. | Oyster MushroomLarge fan- or shell-shaped caps, white to gray, tan or brown. |
| What it grows on | King OysterIn the wild, the roots of Eryngium and related carrot-family plants; in cultivation, sawdust and grain. | Oyster MushroomDead and dying hardwood logs and stumps. |
| Where found in North America | King OysterGrocery stores and farms; not treated as a wild species in North American field guides. | Oyster MushroomWild across North America, and also cultivated. |
| Gills | King OysterWhite to cream, running down the stem. | Oyster MushroomWhite to cream, running down toward the point of attachment. |
| Spore print | King OysterWhite. | Oyster MushroomWhite to pale lilac-gray. |
FAQ
Common questions
Is a king oyster an oyster mushroom?
It is in the same genus, Pleurotus, but a different species, Pleurotus eryngii. The common oyster mushroom is Pleurotus ostreatus.
Where do king oyster mushrooms grow naturally?
On the roots of plants in the carrot family, such as Eryngium and Ferula, in Europe, North Africa and parts of Asia. It is grown commercially around the world.
Sources
Where these facts come from
- Pleurotus eryngii Genomes Reveal Evolution and Adaptation to the Gobi Desert Environment
PubMed Central, US National Library of Medicine
- Pleurotus ostreatus
MushroomExpert.com
Keep checking
Read both pages in full
- More on the king oyster
- More on the oyster mushroom
- Not sure it is either? Narrow it down with the identification key
This page states what field guides record. It is not advice to eat, taste or handle anything, and a photo cannot settle edibility. If someone has eaten a wild mushroom that may be toxic, call poison control (1-800-222-1222 in the US) right away, before symptoms start: the deadliest species act hours later.
More comparisons
Oyster mushroom vs shiitake
Shiitake has a distinct tough stem and gills that stop at it. Oyster mushrooms grow in shelves with little or no stem and gills running down.
Hypsizygus ulmarius
Photo coming
Elm oyster vs oyster mushroom
Elm oysters have a distinct stem and gills that stop at it. Oyster mushrooms grow in shelves with gills running down to the attachment.
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