''Lentinus levis'' is a species of

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from "eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushro ...

fungus A fungus (plural, : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of Eukaryote, eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and Mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified ...

in the family

Polyporaceae The Polyporaceae are a family of poroid fungi belonging to the Basidiomycota. The flesh of their fruit bodies varies from soft (as in the case of the dryad's saddle illustrated) to very tough. Most members of this family have their hymenium ( ...

. It was described by

Miles Joseph Berkeley Miles Joseph Berkeley (1 April 1803 – 30 July 1889) was an English cryptogamist and clergyman, and one of the founders of the science of plant pathology. Life Berkeley was born at Biggin Hall, Benefield, Northamptonshire, and educated a ...

and

Moses Ashley Curtis Moses Ashley Curtis (11 May 1808 – 10 April 1872) was a noted American botanist. Biography Curtis was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts and educated at Williams College in Massachusetts. After graduating, he became a tutor for the children of ...

in 1853 and given its current name in 1915 by

William Murrill William Alphonso Murrill (October 13, 1869 – December 25, 1957) was an American mycologist, known for his contributions to the knowledge of the Agaricales and Polyporaceae. In 1904, he became the assistant Curator at the New York Botanical ...

. As a

saprotroph Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi ( ...

, it can be cultivated. In nature it grows in subtropical to tropical climate. It is recognized and sometimes collected as a food by

Huichol The Huichol or Wixárika are an indigenous people of Mexico and the United States living in the Sierra Madre Occidental range in the states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Durango, as well as in the United States in the states of California, ...

people of

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

, although they prefer eating other, less chewy mushrooms. For a long time thought to be a member of ''Pleurotus'' genus, it has been moved to genus ''Lentinus''.

Description

Fruiting bodies of ''Lentinus levis'' resemble those of ''

Pleurotus dryinus ''Pleurotus dryinus'' is a species of fungus in the family Pleurotaceae. It grows on dead wood and is also a weak pathogen; infecting especially broad-leaved trees. Naming The species name is a Latinised version of the Greek word "dryinos" (δ ...

'' and can be confused with them. Both are centrally stipitate, have decurrent

lamellae Lamella (plural lamellae) means a small plate or flake in Latin, and in English may refer to: Biology * Lamella (mycology), a papery rib beneath a mushroom cap * Lamella (botany) * Lamella (surface anatomy), a plate-like structure in an animal * ...

and exhibit a

partial veil In mycology, a partial veil (also called an inner veil, to differentiate it from the "outer", or universal veil) is a temporary structure of tissue found on the fruiting bodies of some basidiomycete fungi, typically agarics. Its role is to isol ...

(which is more persistent in ''P. dryinus'' and can be lacking in young ''L. levis''). The pileus surface in ''L. levis'' is usually velutinous, while in ''P. dryinus'' it is radially fibrillose. ''L. levis'' produces a floral odor resembling that of

Pleurotus pulmonarius ''Pleurotus pulmonarius'', commonly known as the Indian oyster, Italian oyster, phoenix mushroom, or the lung oyster, is a mushroom very similar to ''Pleurotus ostreatus'', the pearl oyster, but with a few noticeable differences. The caps of ''p ...

References

External links

* Fungi described in 1853 Polyporaceae {{Agaricales-stub