Oyster mushroom or Wrinkled peach

Cap 5–25 cm across, rounded or ear-shaped in young mushrooms, then fan-shaped or oyster-shaped (hence the English name oyster mushroom). Surface smooth, moist, from dark grey or grey-blue in young ones to pale grey or almost white in mature ones. Margin wavy, thin.

The cap is 3 to 8 cm across, occasionally 10 cm. It starts almost spherical, then becomes convex with an inrolled margin and finally almost flat. Young caps are pink, later peach, salmon, apricot-orange or pinkish red.

The surface is jelly-like, sticky and rubbery, covered in a network of paler veins and pits. The net is clearest on fresh young caps; older or late-season caps can be almost smooth. The cap skin peels off completely.

Gills crowded, whitish or cream, running from the cap down the stem. In young mushrooms the gills are tightly packed; in old ones they spread apart. Spore print white or pale lilac.

The gills are attached or almost free, pinkish, paler than the cap and salmon pink with age, with many shorter gills in between.

The spore print is very pale pink to cream.

Stem 1–5 cm tall (or almost absent in side-attached mushrooms), 1–2.5 cm thick, firm, off-centre or lateral, white or slightly grey. No ring and no volva.

The stem is short, 1 to 5 cm long and 0.5 to 1.5 cm thick, often curved and off-centre, white to pinkish and covered in white fibres, slightly thicker at the base. There's no ring.

Young stems "bleed", with orange or red droplets on the surface.

Flesh white, firm in young mushrooms, more fibrous and tough in mature ones, especially in the stem. Taste mild, slightly anise-like. It soaks up flavours well in cooking.

The flesh is springy and rubbery, jelly-like under the cap skin, whitish to pale pink, and doesn't change colour when cut.

Smell pleasant, subtly anise-mushroomy. Fresh oyster mushrooms smell soft and unobtrusive; when fried, the aroma grows stronger and closer to the classic mushroom smell.

The smell is weak: some people notice a faint fruity, apricot-like note, others smell nothing. The taste is bitter.