Schizophyllum commune

This stemless wonder, Schizophyllum commune, is one of my most recent identifications. I used Michael Kuo's key on his website www.MushroomExpert.com. I first learned how to use dichotomous keys for species identification in a botany class. Using a key is a quest to get to the identity of the mysterious organism you behold! But if you find yourself increasingly identifying yourself as an amateur mycologist (yours truly), then it is the next tool you can use to pin down the elusive identity of macrofungi. No doubt, you will still rely on rapidly comparing your specimen to any other photos of remotely similar mushrooms- this post is to show you how to use a key along with handy dandy power of observation. You are welcome to following along in the "Key To Major Groups" page of Mr. Kuo's website.

You're out walking your happy dog after a few beautiful days of rain when you come across this! Start with the key to the major groups:

1. Mushroom growing on other mushrooms or the decayed remains of other mushrooms

1. Mushroom not growing on other mushrooms  --> 2   

      

It was growing off a branch of a neighborhood woody shrub, so the latter.

2. Mushroom with gills on its underside  --> 3

2. Gills absent

This one could be tricky. These are not traditional gills and you can see it right away. It turns out they are gills they just dry out and fold creating this fan-like pattern. But they look much more like gills than not, so we'll go with that.

3. Growing shelflike on wood; mushroom very tough and leathery, corky, or woody; gills tough and hard, sometimes maze-like; cap frequently with concentric zones of color

2. Not completely as above  --> 4

Here is where it is vital to READ THE WHOLE LINE! This specimen does grow shelflike on wood! However none of the other characteristics match, and therefore it fits the latter of the couplet.

4. Gills running down the stem, not easily separable from the cap and stem; usually not growing on wood.
4. Gills not as above; growing on wood or elsewhere   --> Gilled Mushrooms

Nope, the gills are doing no such thing since there is no stem. The latter takes us to the key for Gilled Mushrooms

1. (Description for Macrocystidia cucumis)
1. Not completely as above  --> 2

As the keys narrow in scope, you will notice outlier species will be described first. We still have more couplets to wade through to get to ours.

2. Spore print pink, flesh-colored, or salmon  --> Gilled, Pink-spored
2. Spore print otherwise colored  -->  3

Now here is where I used a bit of instinct. I was attempting to identify this, before I even made a spore print, which I didn't end up making at all. But my intuition told me that based on the general color of the gills and the undersurface, it probably was going to be pinkish.

1. With a volva at the base
1. Without a volva  --> 2

2. Growing on wood  --> 3
2. Growing terrestrially

3. Without a stem  --> Oysters
3. With a central to off-centered stem

Finally we reach the Pleurotoid mushrooms which grow on wood, have gills, and typically form kidney shapes. There is no further key to follow, just a species list. I clicked on every species until I found mine (I don't mind this method since I learn more along the way and often stumble upon other mushrooms I'm trying to identify), which was, almost fatefully, the very last one.