Veiled oyster or Pale oyster

Cap up to 20 cm across, attached by its side to the substrate, fan-shaped, convex in young ones, then flattening out. The color is pale cream to beige, sometimes with a yellowish tint. The surface of a young mushroom is velvety, with fine grayish-brown scales; with age it becomes smooth, and in old ones it may crack. Remnants of the veil sometimes remain on the edges.

The cap of the pale oyster reaches 4 to 8, occasionally up to 15 centimeters across. It is fan-shaped, tongue-shaped or almost semicircular, with a thin, often wavy or slightly split margin. The surface is smooth, dry and matte. The coloring is pale: whitish-gray, cream or pale ocher, often darker where it attaches to the wood; with age and in sunlight the cap turns noticeably yellow. It's this pale, almost white color that sets the species apart from the grayish-brown oyster mushroom.

The gills run far down the stem and sometimes join one another with wavy cross-connections in the lower part. White in color, yellowish in mature ones. The spore print is white; spores are elongated, 9–15 × 3–5 µm.

The underside has gills. The gills are white or cream, fairly distant and thick, running noticeably down the stem, and where there is no stem, running all the way down to where the cap attaches. The spore print is white or with a barely noticeable lilac tinge. Decurrent white gills that stay pale for a long time are a characteristic feature of oyster mushrooms.

The stem is short and lateral, from practically absent to 10 cm tall. Whitish or pale brownish in color. A distinctive feature is a membranous or flaky ring in the upper part (veil remnants); in mature ones it often falls off, leaving a band.

The stem is short or almost absent, usually lateral or off-center, up to 4 centimeters long, dirty white, downy-hairy at the base. Several mushrooms often grow together at the stems in a single cluster. The stem flesh is tough, especially in mature specimens, so mostly the caps are eaten. There is no ring and no volva.

The flesh is white, springy and fibrous in young mushrooms, tough and leathery with age. It does NOT change color when cut. It sometimes contains extra thick-walled hyphae that add to its toughness.

The flesh is white, tender and juicy in young mushrooms, becoming firmer and fibrous with age, especially closer to the stem. It does not change color when cut. The taste is mild and pleasant, with no bitterness. For the table, choose young caps with tender flesh.

The smell is pleasant, slightly fruity or sourish; in young ones it recalls a wildflower. The taste is mild and delicate.

The smell is pleasant and mushroomy, sometimes with a barely perceptible hint of anise or flour. The aroma is fresh and not sharp, so for identification rely first of all on the pale fan-shaped cap, the decurrent white gills and growth in clusters on hardwood.