# Mushroom identification (hen of the woods?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 27, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-identification-hen-of-the-woods/511779 "2009-09-27T21:35:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-identification-hen-of-the-woods/511779/1 "2009-09-27T21:35:53Z")
I’m an amateur mycologist, and I found what I think are hen-of-the-woods mushrooms this morning. I just wanted to get some confirmation from others. Here are some photos: [![](https://i.imgur.com/tCCRX.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/tCCRX.jpg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/4UOyq.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/4UOyq.jpg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/qM5t2.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/qM5t2.jpg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/ySzC1.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/ySzC1.jpg) Description: Found in forest in Southern Wisconsin in late September, at base of fallen tree (not sure what kind of tree, but certainly one with a wide base). Mushrooms are brownish white, fan-shaped, and with white pores. Caps are smooth and moist, and overlapping. Each cap has a small stalk that leads to a central stalk. Still doing a sporeprint, so can’t report that yet. But can anyone make a preliminary ID? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-identification-hen-of-the-woods/511779/2 "2009-09-27T21:57:45Z")
It’s not chicken of the woods - that’s sulphur yellow to orange, and looks like a collapsed soufflé. What you have there looks to me like oyster mushrooms - genus _Pleurotus_ - the photos aren’t really quite clear enough for me to be sure - but that might be a starting point for you to research some more. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-identification-hen-of-the-woods/511779/3 "2009-09-27T21:59:43Z")
Ah. My mistake - Hen of the woods is not chicken of the woods Still, not sure that’s what you have there. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-identification-hen-of-the-woods/511779/4 "2009-09-28T00:07:04Z")
Don’t eat anything you are not 100% sure of. Don’t eat anything you are not 100% sure of. Don’t eat anything you are not 100% sure of. Don’t eat anything you are not 100% sure of. It’s not an oyster for sure. It might be a very old hen of the woods that has leached out all it’s color. Even if it is, it’s too old to eat. I’d suggest looking up the WI Mycological Ass’n. They would be able to help you positively identify it. I’d also highly recommend the book “Edible Wild Mushrooms of Illinois and Surrounding States” by Joe McFarland and Gregory M. Mueller ISBN 978-0-252-07643-5 ---
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-identification-hen-of-the-woods/511779/5 "2009-09-28T16:53:35Z")
I got it ID’d. It’s a hen-of-the-woods. Apparently most of it is not too old to eat. Thanks though! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-identification-hen-of-the-woods/511779/6 "2009-09-28T19:17:41Z")
> [@MikeG](#): > > It’s not an oyster for sure. It’s the fourth photo that made me wonder, although it would have been a rather unusually large cluster, for oyster mushrooms. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-identification-hen-of-the-woods/511779/7 "2009-09-28T20:12:50Z")
I suppose this highlights the inherent danger in seeking identification by means of photographs on the internet (although of course I understand that the OP was not being so incautious as that). I consider myself completely competent in the ID of a few dozen of the more common edible species, along with the things they can easily be mistaken for, and the common poisonous ones too. I think it most unlikely I’d have mistaken these for oyster mushrooms if I saw them in real life, but on the basis of the photos alone, the mistake is a fair bit easier.