oyster mushroom

oyster mushroom (plural oyster mushrooms)

1. (US) The mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus, which in the wild grows chiefly on hardwood trees, and is cultivated for food.
   • 1997, Arleen Raines Bessette, Taming the Wild Mushroom: A Culinary Guide to Market Foraging, page 31:

     Particularly good cooking techniques for the Oyster mushroom are stir or deep frying, sautéing, and braising. Some folks enjoy eating them raw in salads, but we do not recommend this. Oyster mushrooms are complemented by onions, butter, mild cheeses, fish, chicken, cream sauces, and gentle herbs.

   • 2009, Joe McFarland, Gregory M. Mueller, Edible Wild Mushrooms of Illinois and Surrounding States, page 51:

     Oyster Mushrooms always grow on wood—but sometimes above roots or beside stumps, which creates the illusion they're growing from soil, which they're not.

   • 2013, Joe Lunkas, Fifty Years of Gathering, Fishing, and Unusual Animal Encounters, page 30:

     Harvesting wild oyster mushrooms has always been a favorite fall gathering activity for me as a Michigan outdoorsman.

2. Any of several mushrooms of the genus Pleurotus cultivated for food.
   • 2006, K. G. Mukerji, C. Manoharachary, Current Concepts in Botany, page 93:

     It is apparent that the production of Oyster mushroom in early 80's was negligible but due to simplicity of cultivation procedure and broad adaptability of different Pleurotus species, the Oyster mushroom has emerged as a mushroom of significance and it is expected that the production will continue to increase especially in South-East Asian countries.

   • 2006, OECD, Safety Assessment of Transgenic Organisms, OECD Consensus Documents, Volume 1, page 277,

     Oyster mushroom is regarded as one of the commercially important edible mushrooms throughout the world. It consists of a number of different species including Pleurotus ostreatus, Pleurotus sajor-caju, […] The oyster mushroom is the second most important mushroom in production around the world, accounting for 25% of total world production of cultivated mushrooms.

   • 2010, Ramesh Chandra Upadhyay, Manjit Singh, “4: Production of Edible Mushrooms”, in Martin Hofrichter, editor, Industrial Applications, page 84:

     Oyster mushrooms (Fig. 4.1) are the most suitable fungal organisms for producing protein-rich food from various agro-wastes without composting. […] Pleorotus mushrooms irrespective of the particular species are generally referred to as "oyster mushrooms".

• (mushroom of genus Pleurotus): abalone mushroom, tree oyster, woods oyster

• tree mushroom (mushroom that grows on wood)