''Crepidotus mollis'', commonly known as the peeling oysterling, soft slipper, jelly crep, or flabby crepidotus,
is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
mushroom
A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans.
The standard for the name "mushroom" is t ...
. It's
edibility is unknown,
but it is probably inedible and possibly
poisonous.
Description
The
cap is 1–5 cm wide and kidney shaped.
The cap is white when it is young and when it gets older, it turns
ochre
Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...
. The
flesh of the cap is white and flabby,
and can be broken easily. It has brown fibrils and scales which wear away, leaving a smooth surface.
The upper layer of the cap is elastic and can be stretched slightly at the margin.
The
gills are pale brown and soft.
The
spores are elliptical and smooth,
producing a brown
spore print.
The stalk is rudimentary or lacking.
''Crepidotus crocophyllus'' looks similar to this species
and is sometimes confused with it.
The species resemble a globe in moist weather. The species has a relative large size compared to other species in the genus Crepidotus. The fungus ''Hypomyces tremellicola'' is a
parasite
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...
that deforms this species' cap.
The species is reportedly inedible, and too small to consider worthwhile.
Since very little is known about the edibility of the mushrooms in the genus ''Crepidotus'', none should be eaten.
Similar species
Similar species include ''
Crepidotus applanatus
''Crepidotus applanatus'' is a species of fungi in the family Crepidotaceae. It was first described in 1796 by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon
Christiaan Hendrik Persoon (1 February 1761 – 16 November 1836) was a German mycologist who made ...
'', ''C. crocophyllus'', and ''
Pleurotus ostreatus''.
Habitat
The species grows in groups or overlapping tiers on
hardwood
Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...
.
The hardwood includes tree trunks, fallen branches, and sawdust. Rarely, the species grows on
coniferous trees.
The species is widely distributed and very common.
The months that the species can commonly be found in are from July to September. The species can be found in
temperate zones
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...
of
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
,
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
, and
The British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles (O ...
. It can also be found in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
during
spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season), a season of the year
* Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy
* Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water
* Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...
,
summer
Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...
, and
autumn
Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September ( Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Sou ...
.
References
External links
Images of ''Crepidotus mollis''{{Taxonbar, from=Q2251383
Inedible fungi
Crepidotaceae
Taxa named by Jacob Christian Schäffer
Fungus species