Biological Species in Pleurotus
INTERSTERILITY GROUP
ISG II. Pleurotus pulmonarius (Fries) Quélet. 1872. Mem. Soc. Emul Montbeliard. 1872. Mem. Soc. Emul Montbeliard.
Fries, E.M. 1821. Systema Mycologicum 1: 187.
Nomenclatural history: Fries (1821) described the taxon within Agaricus, where it remained until Quélet recombined it in Pleurotus.
Typification: No holo- lecto- or neotype exists. Petersen and Hughes (1993) designated a representative collection with cultures: SWEDEN, Västergotland, Kinnekulle Nature Reserve, 18.IX.91, coll. R.H. Petersen, Tennessee tracking number 4203 (TENN 50539). Cultures deposited at ATCC and Univ. Gothenburg, Sweden.
Taxonomic history: Macroscopically, basidiomata of P. pulmonarius are usually white to ivory to tan, and generally smaller than those of P. ostreatus. Young basidiomata of P. pulmonarius are, in fact, lung-shaped while those of P. ostreatus are more dimidiate. Perhaps the most valuable character is seasonality: P. ostreatus is a late fall and winter fungus in Europe and North America, while P. pulmonarius fruits from mid-summer through early fall. Both species prefer wood of deciduous trees.
Genetic isolation history: Petersen and Hughes (1993) paired 10 worldwide collections of P. pulmonarius with four representatives of P. ostreatus, two P. cornucopiae, and four P. djamor representing two color forms. All interspecific pairings were incompatible.
Petersen and Ridley (1995) reported on a collection of P. pulmonarius from New Zealand which was compatible with P. populinus, P. eryngii, P. abieticola, and weakly compatible with P. ostreatus. No evidence has been reported for such multiple-species compatibility among other P. pulmonarius strains.
Mating system: tetrapolar.
Self-cross (viz. Petersen and Hughes, 1993). SWEDEN, Västergotland, Kinnekullu Nature Reserve, 19.IX.91, Tennessee tracking number 4203 (TENN 50539). Tester strains: 4203:1 = A1B1; 4203:14 = A2B2; 4203:10 = A1B2; 4203:9 = A2B1.
Additional information: Pleurotus pulmonarius has been called by several other names, including P. sapidus and P. sajor-caju. The latter name is often used for cultivated strains. See Ohira (1979) for report of spore-deficient mutant. A classic case of name misuse may be found by May et al. (1988).
Guzmán (1996) commented that P. pulmonarius was common in Louisiana and other Gulf Coastal areas.