New Golden Oyster Fungi Spreading Rapidly

You probably have seen brown or white fungi on a tree, but have you ever seen golden fungi? For the past few years, foragers have constantly spotted golden oyster fungi growing on dead or decaying trees. These golden fungi have become increasingly common near the Great Lakes, becoming invasive and a threat to native fungi. But how did this happen?

After studying these mysterious mushrooms and wondering how they popped out of nowhere, Aishwarya Veerabahu, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, concluded that they were introduced to the U.S. She discovered that stores have been selling golden oyster fungus growing kits, which began their propagation. Purchasers would buy a kit of golden oyster fungi and grow them in their backyards. Then, the fungi would spread to other places through compost piles. In the New York Times, Veerabahu said, “The mushrooms were almost certainly introduced to the United States by humans.” These mushrooms are native to Asia but were somehow introduced to the U.S. for cultivation.

Golden oyster fungi are not only invasive but also a threat to the native wood-rotting fungi. Even though there is no evidence, mycologists suspect that golden mushrooms cause decaying trees to turn into nutrients in the soil faster, ruining habitats for plants and animals that built shelters around these rotting trees. Michelle Jusino, a mycologist working with the U.S. Forest Service, said, “When this fungus gets into a tree and you start to see it making a mushroom, the tree seems to have very little time to stay standing on the landscape.”

But everything that has cons has its pros, and for these invasive fungi, it is their taste. Golden oyster fungi are safe to eat and delicious. Alan Bergo, a chef specializing in foraged foods, explained, “They have this meaty, umami, nutty quality to them.” But simply eating these mushrooms is not going to solve their invasive problem.

Golden oyster fungi have been spreading rapidly, occupying the habitats and nutrients of native wood-rotting fungi. Matthew P. Nelsen, a mycologist and research scientist at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, said the golden oyster fungi “paints of wood-rotting fungi.”

Sources:

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