A thin, white, fan- or petal-shaped gilled fungus that grows in overlapping clusters on rotting conifer wood, especially hemlock. It was long treated as a mild edible resembling a small, delicate oyster mushroom, but it has since been linked to fatal acute encephalopathy in Japan, mostly in people with kidney disease, and is now regarded as poisonous.
Poisonous; do not eat. Once eaten as a mild edible, it was implicated in a 2004 outbreak of acute encephalopathy in Japan in which 59 people fell ill and 17 died, most with pre-existing kidney disease, and in a further fatal case in 2009. The toxin is not established. Do not confuse it with oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus), which are thicker-fleshed and usually grow on hardwoods.
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Habitat
Saprobic white-rot fungus growing in overlapping clusters on decaying conifer logs and stumps, particularly hemlock (Tsuga). In North America it fruits from August to November.
Distribution
Widespread in temperate forests of the Northern Hemisphere, including North America; the poisoning cases are from Japan.
Characteristics
Cap: about 4-9 cm, fan-, petal- or ear-shaped; pure white when young, sometimes yellowing with age; flesh thin and fragile compared with oyster mushrooms. Gills: crowded, white, running down to the point of attachment. Stem: very short or absent. Odor: faint and pleasant. Spore print: white.
