A bunch of white mushrooms on living tree trunk seen at Mayne Island. All white, about 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter, fleshy, with gills. Kindly ID please.
Hi David, The number of ID possibilities here is fairly small, however I find I need more info for a positive ID. This appears to be white spored, on hardwood, with possibly true & eccentric stipes rather than no stem or minimal stipes. Although for this time of year, the size and apparent cap colour, I would expect Scytinotus longinquus, I think this instead may be a Hypsizygus. Can you confirm type of tree, presence of full stipes and/or whether there were any older/larger mushrooms that seemed to be of the same sort on the same tree? Thanks frog
Hi Frog, As with the other mushrooms photographed a month ago on Mayne Island, I did not pay much attention to the features needed for identification. I plan to go back after Christmas to have another look. Hopefully it will not be too late to find some of the features. I could not find much information on Scytinotus longinquus or Hypsizygus tessulatus, but their pictures look very similar to the one in my photos. Thank you for your thoughtful analysis. I will give you a follow-up. David
Hi Frog, I went back after Christmas. There were still some mushrooms on the tree trunk, although they appeared yellowish brown rather than whitish. The gills were very prominent. The tree trunk on which these mushrooms grew was bare with no bark. However, this trunk was in close proximity to five others of similar size and with leaves that looked like redcedar. David
Hi David, Thank you for the proximate tree information, those are useful observations in mushroom ID. The tree from the bark appears to be alder, and the mushrooms, re the underside colour and what bits I can see of the topside colour, appear to be winter oysters, Sarcomyxa serotina. Can't see enough of the topside to be certain, but it is very likely. You may be witnessing succession of fruiting of different fungal species on same tree.
