Large clusters of Oyster Mushrooms are always a welcome find for those collecting for the table. What's more, they relatively common and widespread in the New Forest, and are of conspicuous size.
Oyster Mushroom caps, up to 14 centimetres across, are convex and shell-shaped at first, before they eventually flatten and often become centrally depressed and wavy. Colour varies from blue-grey to grey-brown to plain brown. Prominent gills on the underside are white at first and then develop a yellowish tinge.
Most frequently found in autumn on fallen or standing beech trunks, Oyster Mushrooms also sometimes occur on oak, birch, willow, alder and holly.
Warning: refer to a good, comprehensive fungus field guide to confirm identification, and only eat those species known without any doubt whatsoever to be edible - people have died after eating certain poisonous specimens.
References:
Mushrooms and other Fungi of Great Britain and Europe - Roger Phillips
The Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and North-western Europe - Marcel Bon
Fungi of Britain and Europe - Stefan Buczacki and John Wilkinson
The MacDonald Encyclopedia of Mushrooms and Toadstools - Giovanni Pacioni
Fungi of the New Forest: A Mycota - Edited by Gordon Dickson and Ann Leonard
A Passion for Mushrooms - Antonio Carluccio
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