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Edibility
Choice
Lookalike Danger
1 / 5
Habitat
🪵 Dead hardwood
Season
Year-round🌱 Now
"Fruits in stacks on dying poplars and cottonwoods. Anise smell if you bruise the gills."
⚠️ Do Not Confuse With
Mushroom ID is a rule-out game. Every entry below describes a species that looks similar — learn the differences before you put one in a basket.
⚠️ Toxic if confused
Angel wings (Pleurocybella porrigens) are THINNER, PURER WHITE, and grow only on CONIFER wood. Oysters are THICKER, GRAY-TO-CREAM, and grow on HARDWOODS. Angel wings have caused fatalities in Japan — avoid any pure-white shelf on conifers.
⚠️ Toxic if confused
Oysters have WHITE-TO-CREAM caps with gills running DOWN the short stem, growing as SHELVES on wood. Jack-o-lanterns are BRIGHT ORANGE and grow in ROUND CLUSTERS at tree bases, not shelf-like.
🌳 Host Trees & Plants
This species is found with or partners with the following hosts. Ectomycorrhizal hosts (green border) form a root-level partnership; ericoid / arbutoid shrubs (purple border) share the same mycorrhizal networks.
Dead Hardwood
Saprobic substrate
Saprobic substrate
Fallen logs, stumps, and dying hardwood — substrate for oyster, turkey-tail, dryad’s saddle, and most hardwood saprobes.
Hardwood Forest
Fagaceae / Betulaceae (generic)
Saprobic substrate
Generic hardwood habitat — oak, maple, beech, birch, etc. Shown when the species is reported from hardwoods generally.
Fan-shaped white to gray mushroom growing in shelf-like clusters on dead or dying hardwoods. Decurrent gills, short or absent stem. One of the easiest wild mushrooms to identify.
Habitat
Dead and dying cottonwood, aspen, and other hardwoods along creek bottoms. Saprotrophic (decomposes wood). Unique in Colorado for having spring AND fall seasons.
Look for this on the ground
Cottonwood bottomland
Damp gritty soil along creeks, large cottonwood leaves, small river pebbles.
Season Windows by Region
Region
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Sam Houston NF
TX · 80–350 ft
Davy Crockett NF
TX · 200–500 ft
Hill Country
TX · 1,000–2,500 ft
Ozark NF
AR · 700–2,700 ft
Ouachita NF (AR)
AR · 600–2,700 ft
Buffalo National River
AR · 500–2,500 ft
Bankhead NF
AL · 600–1,100 ft
Talladega NF
AL · 700–2,407 ft
De Soto NF
MS · 100–400 ft
Kisatchie NF
LA · 80–400 ft
Sumter NF (Andrew Pickens)
SC · 800–3,500 ft
Francis Marion NF
SC · 10–100 ft
Ocala National Forest
FL · 20–200 ft
Myakka / Southwest Florida
FL · 5–100 ft
Uwharrie NF
NC · 400–1,100 ft
Croatan NF
NC · 0–150 ft
Oconee NF / GA Piedmont
GA · 400–800 ft
Holly Springs NF
MS · 300–600 ft
Atchafalaya Basin
LA · 5–50 ft
Conecuh NF
AL · 200–400 ft
Mobile-Tensaw Delta
AL · 0–50 ft
Tombigbee NF
MS · 300–700 ft
Ouachita NF (OK)
OK · 600–2,500 ft
Ozark Plateau (NE OK)
OK · 700–1,800 ft
Wichita Mountains
OK · 1,200–2,479 ft
Big Thicket
TX · 50–400 ft
Great Dismal Swamp NWR
VA · 0–25 ft
VA Tidewater / Colonial Parkway
VA · 0–150 ft
Alligator River NWR / Eastern NC
NC · 0–25 ft
NC Sandhills / Weymouth Woods
NC · 150–600 ft
Tuskegee NF / East-Central AL
AL · 150–600 ft
Ocmulgee / Central GA Piedmont
GA · 250–750 ft
Red Hills / Thomasville GA
GA · 200–450 ft
Savannah / Hilton Head Coast
GA · 0–40 ft
Congaree NP
SC · 100–200 ft
Okefenokee / SE GA
GA · 100–200 ft
Blackwater / FL Panhandle
FL · 50–300 ft
Apalachicola National Forest
FL · 10–300 ft
Arbuckle Mountains / Chickasaw
OK · 700–1,400 ft
Coastal Bend / Lake Corpus Christi
TX · 50–400 ft
Lost Pines / Bastrop
TX · 300–700 ft
Pachaug SF / Eastern CT
CT · 200–500 ft
Trap Pond / DE Bald Cypress
DE · 20–80 ft
Pocomoke / Eastern Shore
MD · 0–50 ft
Great Swamp / Central RI
RI · 10–120 ft
Nebraska NF / Bessey (Sandhills)
NE · 2,500–3,200 ft
Theodore Roosevelt NP / Badlands ND
ND · 1,950–2,855 ft
Badlands NP / Sage Creek Wilderness
SD · 2,400–3,340 ft
Angeles NF / San Gabriel Mountains
CA · 1,500–10,064 ft
Los Padres NF / Big Sur
CA · 0–8,831 ft
Chiricahua / Madrean Sky Islands
AZ · 4,500–9,759 ft
Santa Catalina Mountains / Mt Lemmon
AZ · 2,500–9,157 ft
Central NE / Platte & Loup Rivers
NE · 2,300–3,400 ft
Texas Panhandle / Caprock Canyons
TX · 2,000–3,400 ft
Flint Hills
KS · 1,000–1,600 ft
Loess Hills
IA · 1,000–1,500 ft
NE Iowa Driftless / Effigy Mounds
IA · 650–1,250 ft
George Washington NF
VA · 1,000–4,397 ft
Adirondacks
NY · 1,000–5,344 ft
Laurel Highlands
PA · 1,200–3,213 ft
Cherokee NF
TN · 1,000–6,285 ft
Oak Openings / NW Ohio
OH · 620–720 ft
NJ Pine Barrens
NJ · 0–200 ft
Eastern NE / Missouri Bluffs
NE · 900–1,350 ft
SE South Dakota / Newton Hills
SD · 1,300–1,550 ft
Sheyenne NG Oak Savanna
ND · 1,000–1,350 ft
Minnesota River Valley
MN · 800–1,150 ft
Osage Hills / Cross Timbers
OK · 700–1,250 ft
Smoky Hills / Wilson Lake
KS · 1,500–1,950 ft
Turtle Mountain SF
ND · 1,800–2,400 ft
Pembina Gorge
ND · 850–1,500 ft
Black Hills NF
SD · 3,200–7,242 ft
Custer NF / Slim Buttes
SD · 3,000–4,000 ft
Pine Ridge / Oglala NG
NE · 3,400–5,000 ft
Niobrara River Valley
NE · 1,900–2,700 ft
Western MD / Catoctin
MD · 700–3,360 ft
White Clay Creek
DE · 100–350 ft
NW NJ / High Point
NJ · 400–1,803 ft
Cape Cod National Seashore
MA · 0–306 ft
Lincoln NF / Sacramento Mtns
NM · 4,500–11,973 ft
Sandia Mountains / Cibola NF
NM · 5,000–10,678 ft
Davis Mountains / West TX
TX · 4,000–8,378 ft
Shasta-Trinity NF
CA · 1,500–14,179 ft
Mendocino NF / Yolla Bolly
CA · 1,500–8,092 ft
Sequoia NF / Kern Plateau
CA · 1,500–9,000 ft
Umpqua NF / Diamond Lake
OR · 1,000–9,173 ft
Siuslaw NF / Oregon Dunes
OR · 0–4,097 ft
Ochoco NF / Central OR
OR · 3,000–7,993 ft
Colville NF / Selkirks
WA · 1,800–7,309 ft
Cross Timbers / LBJ National Grassland
TX · 700–1,200 ft
Red Hills / Gyp Hills
KS · 1,500–2,200 ft
Lewis & Clark NF / Little Belts
MT · 4,500–8,678 ft
Superior NF / BWCA
MN · 1,300–2,301 ft
MN North Shore / Sawtooth
MN · 600–2,301 ft
Chippewa NF
MN · 1,200–1,500 ft
Growing Requirements
Min Soil Temp
40°F
Moisture Need
rain 0.5in 7d
Drought Tolerance
moderate
Elevation Range
0–14,179 ft
Look-Alikes
Species to rule out before picking. Each is tagged with its own edibility.
Pleurocybella porrigens (Angel Wings)
DeadlyGenerally grows on conifer wood (not hardwood). Very thin flesh compared to true oysters. Has caused fatalities in Japan among people with kidney issues.
Identification Tips
- ✓Should smell pleasant and mild — reject any with an off smell
- ✓Check dead cottonwoods along streams in spring and fall
- ✓One of the few mushrooms with two seasons in Colorado
- ✓Grows in clusters — one log can produce a meal's worth
Field Notes
Dead and dying hardwood snags — water oak, sweetgum, tupelo. Nearly year-round in the Deep South.
Found Oyster Mushroom?
Photograph it and log your observation on iNaturalist. The community can help confirm your ID — always get confirmation before eating.
Safety: Never eat any wild mushroom without 100% certain identification from multiple sources. This page is for informational purposes only. When in doubt, throw it out.