GROWING GOURMET - Anto2ni.it

259. Bottle culture of P. cttrtnoplleatus in Japan.
GROWTH PARAMETERS 287
ing through China in 1983,1 made clones of Chinese mushrooms. Using a BIC TM lighter and a small scalpel,
I inoculated ten test tube slants without the benefit of any laboratory facility. One of those clones
survived the return trip. This is the strain prominently featured here.
Mycelial Characteristics: Cottony, whitish mycelium, often with tufts of dense growth, sometimes
with yellowish tones, and occasionally run through with, underlying rhizomorphic strands.
Primordia are yellow at first, especially from strains kept close to their natural origins. Mycelium
dense on grain. Colonization of bulk substrates at first wispy, only becoming dense well after colonization.
This mushroom casts a much finer mycelial mat at first than, for instance, Pleurotus ostreatus
or P pulmonarius on wheat straw.
Fragrance Signature: Grain spawn smells astringent, or acrid, nutty, sometimes "fishy", with a
scent that, in time, is distinctly recognizable to this species.
Natural Method of Cultivation: This species will grow on logs and stumps, especially of Ulmus and
Carpinus species much like P ostreatus. Hilber (1982) reported that, per cubic meter of elm wood,
the yield from one season averaged 17-22 kilograms! Also grown on cottonseed hulls, sugar cane bagasse,
straw and sawdust in China. In the United States wheat straw or hardwood sawdust are most
frequently employed for substrate composition.
Recommended Courses for Expansion of Mycelial Mass toAchieve Fruiting: Grain spawn sown
directly into sterilized sawdust or pasteurized substrates. The generation of intermediate sawdust
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