Deer Mushroom belongs to genus Pluteus and is quite common find in my area throughout the whole mushrooming season. They grow on logs, never in clusters. The mushroom is of medium size.
Characteristics
- the cap color may vary greatly from whitish-tan to darker browns mottled with lighter areas (hence the name)
- stalk is slender and quite stringy
- spore print is pink
- grows only on well decayed hardwood
- gills are free of stalk, quite dense and take major portion of the cap; they are white with definite pink overtones
Edibility
It is edible, but having a little substance not really easy to fill the basket. Nobody claims they are choice or something really delicious. I do not tend to collect them for the kitchen. If I do, I usually dry them, always discarding tough and stringy stalk. There is several similar Pluteus species, but they are all edible.