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Crepidote flattened is a widespread species of the Fiberaceae family. Fruiting bodies form on rotting wood. In the scientific community it is known under the names: Crepidotus applanatus, Agaricus applanatus, Agaricus planus.
What do flattened crepidotes look like?
The semicircular, small fruiting body of a saprotroph growing on decaying wood is shaped like a scallop shell. It is attached with a vestigial leg to a rotting or weakened trunk. The width of the cap is from 1 to 4 cm, convex at first, gradually opening as it grows. The hem is folded, sometimes in stripes. The entire fruiting body is soft, slightly flabby, and quickly becomes saturated with liquid in rainy weather.The skin is smooth to the touch, slightly velvety at the base. Young mushrooms are white, later turning light brown.
Frequent, adherent plates have smooth edges. The color changes from white to brown. The leg is attached sideways to the substrate. Sometimes it is completely unnoticeable. Small spines are visible at the point of attachment on the fruiting bodies.
The thin pulp is white, soft, with an indistinct odor and pleasant taste. Young fruiting bodies are watery. The mass of ripe spores is ocher-brown or with a brownish tint.
Where do flattened crepidotes grow?
The distribution of mushrooms throughout the warm period - in Eurasia and America:
- settle on deciduous and coniferous trees;
- they prefer hornbeam, beech, and maple wood;
- less common on fir and spruce trees.
Is it possible to eat crepidotes?
The species is considered inedible. Its properties are little known in science.
How to distinguish flattened crepidotes
Given the fact that the fruiting bodies of these common tree fungi are not collected, the difference is only important to naturalists. There are several saprotrophs that look like flattened caps - oyster mushrooms and other species of the genus Crepidotus.
Fans of oyster mushrooms, or oyster mushrooms, who are planning to find them in the natural environment, need to study the signs of crepidote, since at first glance, for an inexperienced mushroom picker, their fruiting bodies are the same.
Take into account the differences between oyster mushrooms:
- they grow upward, as it were, because the fruiting bodies have lateral legs up to 3 cm in height;
- often gather in a multi-tiered formation, while crepidotes grow frequently, but in separate small groups;
- the width of the caps is from 5 to 20 cm or more;
- the skin of edible mushrooms is painted in a wide palette of shades - from light yellowish, cream to dark gray;
- The spore powder of oyster mushrooms is white.
The flattened appearance differs from other relatives:
- skin – velvety and smooth at the base;
- light top;
- microscopic features.
Conclusion
Crepidote flattened is a little-studied tree mushroom. Having settled in a crack in the bark of a living tree, it can cause disease. The representative of the forest kingdom is not edible and has no nutritional value.
