Pleurotus dryinus

What You Should Know

Pleurotus dryinus or Veiled oyster is a large and edible mushroom. Pleurotus dryinus mushroom is so-called because of the partial veil left on the edge of the cap and stem, they are quite stunning to look at. They can fruit alone but can also produce quite a spectacular display in small clusters.

Pleurotus is Latin for ‘side ear’ describing the angle and format which the mushroom grows on the wood it is attached to.

Dryinus means ‘related to oak’, a preferential host for this fungus because the veiled oyster mushroom is commonly sighted around oak and beech trees, in forests of North Carolina Piedmont. It also grows throughout the United Kingdom, mainland Europe, North America and Asia. Most oyster mushrooms are smooth when handled, and the Pleurotus dryinus is in contrast, fuzzy to the touch.

Other names: Veiled oyster.

Pleurotus dryinus Mushroom Identification

1. Ecology

   Saprobic; growing alone or in small clusters on dead and living wood of hardwoods (especially oaks and beech); summer and fall (winter in coastal California); widely distributed in North America.

2. Cap

   4–10 cm; convex, becoming broadly convex; circular in outline; hairy; whitish beneath whitish to pale grayish hairs, but often yellowing with age; the margin inrolled when young, hung with partial veil remnants.

3. Gills

   Running down the stem; close or nearly distant; whitish, yellowing with age.

4. Stem

   4–8 cm long; 1–2 cm thick; tough; usually a little off-center; the lower portion with a densely fuzzy sheath that terminates in an ephemeral ring; above the ring smooth or with ridges resulting from the gills; whitish, yellowing with age.

5. Flesh

   Thick; tough; whitish; yellowing with age.

6. Spore Print: White.

Pleurotus dryinus Health Benefits

Pleurotus dryinus has been described as a weak parasite for trees, particularly broad-leaved trees; however, it also appears to have anti-parasitic properties.

Dogs and cats are potential carriers for parasitic organisms such as nematodes (roundworms) and bacterial, viral and fungal agents; this may affect human health. Nematotoxin is a toxin that is produced by Pleurotus genre of mushrooms and is capable of immobilization of nematodes. In vitro trans-2-decenedioic acid, a toxin has been shown immobilize nematodes and extracts taken from Pleurotus dryinus have been shown to paralyze, and the hyphae invade nematodes.

Pleurotus dryinus Taxonomy and Etymology

The basionym of the Veiled Oyster Mushroom was established in 1801 when this species was described scientifically by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon, who named it Agaricus dryinus.

The currently-accepted scientific name Pleurotus dryinus dates from 1871, when German mycologist Paul Kummer transferred the Veiled Oyster into the Pleurotus genus.

Synonyms of Pleurotus dryinus are many and include Agaricus dryinus Pers., Agaricus corticatus Fr., Agaricus albertinii Fr., Agaricus spongiosus Fr., Agaricus acerinus Fr., Pleurotus corticatus (Fr.) P. Kumm., Pleurotus tephrotrichus Fr., Pleurotus corticatus var. tephrotrichus (Fr.) Gillet, Pleurotus acerinus (Fr.) Sacc., Pleurotus albertinii (Fr.) Sacc., Pleurotus spongiosus (Fr.) Sacc., and Pleurotus corticatus var. albertinii (Fr.) Rea.

Pleurotus, the generic name, is Latin for ‘side ear ’ and refers to the lateral attachment of the stem. The specific epithet dryinus means 'of oak trees'.

Oaks of various kinds are among the main hosts of the Veiled Oyster Mushroom, although in Britain and Ireland this mushroom is probably rather more likely to be seen on Beech or Ash trees.

It is the partial veil (rather than a universal veil of the kind that leaves a volva at the stem base of Amanita and Volvariella species) from which this edible mushroom gets its common name. Fragments of the partial veil can often be seen hanging from the inrolled cap margins of young fruit bodies of the Veiled Oyster, as seen in Sean Goodwin's picture at the top of this page.

Sources:

Photo 1 - Author: Holger Krisp (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)

Photo 2 - Author: Stu's Images (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International)

Photo 3 - Author: Jerzy Opioła (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International)

Photo 4 - Author: Björn S... (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic)