Can Mushrooms Grow Off Dead Wood?

Shiitake Mushrooms

• Shiitakes (Lentinus edodes) are saprobes that are both medicinal and delectable. They are tasty and slightly chewy mushrooms, pale to medium brown in color and will only grow on logs and sawdust. It is much easier to grow them on dead hardwood than sawdust, in conditions of high humidity and shade. Shiitakes can be forced by commercial growers but they will naturally appear in spring and fall when seasonal rains and temperature changes affect them.

Oyster Mushrooms

• Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) grow on dead wood in Harvard's Arnold Arboretum and elsewhere, when they find the right host and climate conditions. They have light brown to white caps that appear in clusters on dead hardwood. Oyster mushrooms are edible and can be found in fall, winter and early spring but don't typically appear during the heat of summer.

Chicken of the Woods

• Chicken of the Woods mushrooms (Laetiporus sulphureus or Laetiporus cincinnatus) are orange, clustered and sought-after edibles. They are saprobes and are commonly harvested from oaks. The mushrooms grow in a stubby rosette formation and the color actually ranges from the yellow of raw chicken flesh to a true orange. According to a paper produced by Harvard's Arnold Arboretum where several species of the mushroom grow, cooked chicken of the woods mushrooms taste just like chicken.

Hemlock Varnish Shelf

• The Hemlock varnish shelf mushroom (Ganoderma tsugae) is a spectacular shiny fungus that loves hemlock trees. It will grow on living or dead wood but its presence on a live tree indicates the tree may have problems. A hemlock varnish mushroom looks like a lacquered red to reddish-brown scallop shell. It may grow solo or in small clusters and has a wide variety of medicinal uses in herbal and Chinese medicine due to its antioxidant and other healing properties.