page_title: Pleurotus ostreatus
section_title: Habitat
hierarchical_section_title: Pleurotus ostreatus / Habitat
caption_attribution_description: Latina: Pleurotus ostreatus Català: L'auriana o orellana, Havré, Bèlgica 中文: 平菇 | 平菇|平菇 , 列日省 Deutsch: Austernseitling , Havré, Belgien English: Oyster mushrooms, Havré, Belgium Français&#160;: Pleurote en huitre, Havré, Belgique 한국어: 느타리속, 벨기에 日本語: ヒラタケ, ベルギー Nederlands: gewone oesterzwam, Havré, België Русский: Буковача, Бельгия Українська: Плеврот черепичастий, Бельгія Walon: Pleurote plate mosse, Havré, Bèljike
context_page_description: Pleurotus ostreatus, the pearl oyster mushroom or tree oyster mushroom, is a common edible mushroom. It was first cultivated in Germany as a subsistence measure during World War I and is now grown commercially around the world for food. It is related to the similarly cultivated king oyster mushroom. Oyster mushrooms can also be used industrially for mycoremediation purposes.
  The oyster mushroom is one of the more commonly sought wild mushrooms, though it can also be cultivated on straw and other media. It has the bittersweet aroma of benzaldehyde.
context_section_description: The oyster mushroom is widespread in many temperate and subtropical forests throughout the world, although it is absent from the Pacific Northwest of North America, being replaced by P. pulmonarius and P. populinus. It is a saprotroph that acts as a primary decomposer of wood, especially deciduous trees, and beech trees in particular. It is a white-rot wood-decay fungus.
  The oyster mushroom is one of the few known carnivorous mushrooms. Its mycelia can kill and digest nematodes, which is believed to be a way in which the mushroom obtains nitrogen.
  The standard oyster mushroom can grow in many places, but some other related species, such as the branched oyster mushroom, grow only on trees. They may be found all year round in the UK.
  While this mushroom is often seen growing on dying hardwood trees, it only appears to be acting saprophytically, rather than parasitically. As the tree dies of other causes, P. ostreatus grows on the rapidly increasing mass of dead and dying wood. They actually benefit the forest by decomposing the dead wood, returning vital elements and minerals to the ecosystem in a form usable to other plants and organisms.
caption: Oyster mushrooms on a tree
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