Crepidotus calolepis
Bidr. Känn. Finl. Nat. Folk 32: 414. 1879.
Common Name: none
Misapplied name: Crepidotus mollis (Fries) Staude
Fruiting body 1.0-5.0 cm broad, bean to shell-shaped, laterally attached to the substrate and sessile; cuticle gelatinous when moist, surface pallid to cream, typically covered with fibrillose-brown scales, the latter sometimes weathering away in age; flesh thin, white, quickly bruising buff; veil absent; odor and taste mild.
Gills moderately broad, close, at first pale buff, then brown, emanating from the attachment point.
Gills moderately broad, close, at first pale buff, then brown, emanating from the attachment point.
Spores 6-9 x 4.5-6.0 µm, elliptical, smooth; spore print brown.
Solitary, scattered to gregarious on hardwood logs, sometimes on the bark of living trees, uncommon on conifer wood; frequently found on blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus) and oaks (Quercus); fruiting from late fall to mid-winter.
Unknown; too small and unsubstantial to be of culinary value.
The shell-shaped fruiting bodies of Crepidotus calolepis are sometimes mistaken for a small oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus). It, however, seldom approaches the size of the oyster mushroom, and is easily distinguished by a brown rather than white spore print. Other important field characters are the brown, fibrillose cap scales and a gelatinous cuticle, the latter best seen in moist weather.
This species has long been called Crepidotus mollis in North America, but the true C. mollis has a smooth cap, unlike the fibrillose-brown scaley cap of C. calolepsis.
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— gills
