The true oyster of the family Ostreidae is the European flat oyster, Ostrea edulis. Its well-known shells are untidy and irregular in outline ( often made more so by a variety of encrusting plants and animals growing on them ) and there are such big local differences in appearance that with experience one can sometimes tell in which bed a prticular oyster lived. The two valves are unlike, the right one beig flat and the left one being convex. They are hinged in the pointed region of the "beaks". The hard, rough, gray shell contains a meat that can vary in color from creamy beige to pale gray, in flavor from salty to bland and in texture from tender to firm. There are both natural and cultivated oyster beds throughout the world. In the United States, there are three primary species of oysters that are commercially harvested Pacific (or Japanese), Eastern (or Atlantic) and the Olympia. Each species is sold under different names depending on where they're harvested. Olympia Oysters are rarely larger than 11*2 inches and hail from Washington's Puget Sound. The Pacific Oyster (or Japanese oyster ) is found along the Pacific seaboard and can reach up to a foot long. Considered culinarily superior to the Pacific oysters are Atlantic Oysters (or Eastern oysters ), the most well known of which is the Bluepoint. Others from the Atlantic seaboard named for their place of origin include Apalachicola, Cape Cod, Chincoteague, Indian River, Kent Island, Malpeque and Wellfleet. In Europe, the French are famous for their Belon Oysters (which are now also being farmed in the United States) and their green-tinged Marennes oysters; the English have their Colchester, Helford and Whitstable oysters; and the Irish have Galway oysters.