Missing: Oyster Mushrooms

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Missing: Oyster Mushrooms
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Zarza

Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Posts: 91
Location: Either in the kitchen or in the woods, or in between

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 06 9:08 pm Post subject:

More bad news for me.

To add insult to injury, I've checked the Forestry Commission Scotland web site to gather more information about Beech trees in Scotland. Read the first paragraph. Link: https://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-6UEJK2

Dissapointing

EDIT: I think I misunderstood the text. It says: "Beeches (Fagus sylvatica) with a tendency to layer are extremely rare in Scotland."

Note the quoted text has no commas, thus, it only refer to beech trees with a tendency to layer.
Should the text uses commas: "Beeches (Fagus sylvatica), with a tendency to layer, are extremely rare in Scotland.", it would have refered to all of beech trees. Tricky thing, commas.

So I assume there are a good amount of beech trees in Scotland. Carrying on researching...

Last edited by Zarza on Fri Nov 17, 06 9:20 pm; edited 4 times in total

bingo

Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 4401
Location: The Games Room normally!

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 06 9:15 pm Post subject: Unlucky mate
Zarza...............Thats really interesting. I just take beech for granted.

bingo

Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 4401
Location: The Games Room normally!

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 06 10:38 pm Post subject:
I think so zarza, I spent most of my time at school flicking chewed up pieces of paper towels on a ruler at the classroom ceiling.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 06 12:08 am Post subject:

You do get beech up in Scotland, but way less of it. But that said, you don't need beech for oysters, I've had them from sycamore, oak and lime to name but three.

Bingo, thing about oyster shrooms is that they're incredibly variable. Wierd funky genetics. So they vary in colour, what they're happy growing on, and in what makes them fruit. But all of them seem to want some kind of stress to make them fruit; if you're lucky when you're out in winter you'll come across a stump all covered with them (some come out after cold shock), and you'll be able to go back there for years and pick them. I had a stump in our local woods that gave me oyster mushrooms every winter for five years, until there was practically nowt left of it.

Zarza

Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Posts: 91
Location: Either in the kitchen or in the woods, or in between

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 06 11:26 am Post subject:

Bingo,

We used to "rice fighting" in the classroom. The hollow case of a Bic ballpoint pen was a perfect gun to shot rice grains to your enemies.
The harder you blew, the more painfull the shell was. It's not as easy as it sounds.

Cab,

I need to study more about trees. My knowledge on the subject is limited. Now it's a hard time to identify since trees are losing their leaves.
What about the holly trees? Are they good pals for oyster mushrooms?

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 06 3:34 pm Post subject:

Zarza wrote:

I need to study more about trees. My knowledge on the subject is limited. Now it's a hard time to identify since trees are losing their leaves.
What about the holly trees? Are they good pals for oyster mushrooms?

I've never seen an oyster shroom on a holly tree. Can't off the top of my head think of any bracket I've seem on holly.

skedone

Joined: 19 Oct 2006
Posts: 351
Location: essex inbetween a blue bit and a green bit

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 06 4:30 pm Post subject:
well in all my books they say the same the like oak,beech but predominatly elm i hope that helps

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 06 4:35 pm Post subject:
True, they love elm. If you have many elm trees in your parts (and a lot of the country doesn't) then you're quids in for them.

Zarza

Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Posts: 91
Location: Either in the kitchen or in the woods, or in between

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 06 6:04 pm Post subject:

Quote:

well in all my books they say the same the like oak,beech but predominatly elm i hope that helps

Thanks skedone. There are quite a few oaks over here. Luckily (and after last night snow), oyster mushrooms will start to fruit. Let's see, I'm going to keep an eye closely.

Quote:

If you have many elm trees in your parts (and a lot of the country doesn't) then you're quids in for them.

Just found this on the internet: https://www.firstscience.com/SITE/editor/076_ramblings_29102004.asp
"6/ The UK Forestry Commission has estimated that by the 1990's, after a second more deadly outbreak, over 25 million of the 30 million elm trees in the UK had been killed by Dutch Elm Disease."

That is absolutely shocking. Elm bark beetles are carriers of the disease. Check this site for more info: https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/trees/pp324w.htm

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 06 6:27 pm Post subject:

Yup, the poor, poor elm. Still, there ARE places where you get loads of it; the thing to remember about elms is that while we divide them into different species and subspecies, the elm itself doesn't, its a complete hussy and crosses quite freely. That means that there are some pockets with wierd genetics that have survived well, so there are loads in some spots in West Cambridgeshire, and if memory serves there are loads in Brighton.

Zarza

Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Posts: 91
Location: Either in the kitchen or in the woods, or in between

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 06 6:32 pm Post subject:

Quote:

That means that there are some pockets with wierd genetics that have survived well

Does it mean that those elms are somehow "immune"?

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 06 6:39 pm Post subject:

Zarza wrote:

Does it mean that those elms are somehow "immune"?

Less susceptible would be a better way of putting it. 'Elm' is a farily complicated critter, with recognised species like the Wych elm being less prone to the disease than the old English elm, but still somewhat susceptible, and some pockets of English elm being far more resistant than others. Been lots of research into why.

Theres a place called Wimpole Hall, to the West of Cambridge, where there are some magnificent elms. A rarity these days, though.

doctoral

Joined: 19 Oct 2006
Posts: 697
Location: Now in Surrey ... I need a good avatar

Posted: Tue Nov 21, 06 8:13 pm Post subject:
There seem to be few Elms around here, these days ...

skedone

Joined: 19 Oct 2006
Posts: 351
Location: essex inbetween a blue bit and a green bit

Posted: Wed Nov 22, 06 8:48 am Post subject:
must admit the woods near me seem to have a few elm as well well theres quite of few of them every were round here

jp

Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Posts: 302
Location: Salisbury, Wiltshire

Posted: Wed Nov 22, 06 7:39 pm Post subject:
Can't remember the last time I saw an English Elm, which is a pity as they are beautiful trees...

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