The genus Pleurotus are commonly known as "Oysters". They feature white spore prints, decurrent gills, and generally possess notable, pleasant aromas. The stem attachment can be sessile, eccentric, or central, though species commonly look more or less like shells attached to their woody substrates (a shape known as conchate). They are decurrent gilled mushrooms. Many are good edibles and can be found growing on a wide array of tree species as many species are generalists in their substrate preferences.

They are highly competitive in their woodland habitats, and they can many times be observed "sporulating" due to their relatively high quantity of spore production and dispersal. If one were to watch the fresh fruiting bodies long enough, wafts of white powdery spore "smoke" can be seen being blown by minute wind currents. After enough time of spore production, their substrates become caked with white powder due to millions to billions of spores piling up on each other.