Chanterelle Cantharellus cibarius

Right now

When to look

From June to October. Favourable temperatures: 14 to 23 °C. It usually fruits 2 to 8 days after at least 10 mm of rain.

Where to look

Habitat

Broadleaves & conifers, moss, banks

Soil

Acid-loving (acidic, mossy soils) (pH 4.3 to 6.0)

How to recognise it

Cap 3 to 12 cm, uniform egg-yolk yellow, fleshy, convex then hollowed into a funnel, with a thick, wavy margin that stays inrolled for a long time. The underside bears not gills but thick, rounded, widely spaced, forked folds, the same colour as the cap, running well down the stem. Stem solid and firm, continuous with the cap. Flesh whitish to pale yellow, fibrous, with a fruity smell of apricot or mirabelle plum. Fruits on the ground, in broad patches, often in moss.

Dangerous look-alikes

• Jack o'lantern mushroom

  Omphalotus olearius
  poisonous

  Grows in dense clumps with stems fused at the base, never as isolated specimens scattered in moss like the chanterelle; it bears true gills, thin, crowded and detachable, bright orange, and not thick folds fused to the flesh. Cap reddish orange, rancid smell. Its host — a stump or roots of broadleaved trees (olive, oak, sweet chestnut) — is often buried: the clump can therefore seem to come out of the ground, and growing ‘on the ground’ proves nothing. A cause of severe digestive poisoning, especially in the south of France.

• False chanterelle

  Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca
  poisonous

  True gills, thin, very crowded, repeatedly forked and easily separated from the cap, a brighter orange than the cap, whereas the chanterelle bears thick, rounded, widely spaced folds that cannot be separated from the flesh: this is the first criterion to check. Flesh soft and thin, stem slender and often off-centre, no fruity smell. It most often grows on the ground under broadleaves or conifers, sometimes on woody debris and needle litter: the substrate is therefore not enough to recognise it. Its edibility is disputed among authors: several report digestive upsets of the indigestion type, and some bibliographies class it among poisonous species — reason enough to leave it where it is.

Foraging tips

Look at the underside of the cap against the light and rub it with a finger: thick folds fused to the flesh, never thin gills that come away. Eat cooked, uncovered so that the water it releases can evaporate, and leave dried-out or maggoty specimens where they are.

Model reliability

Reliability for this species: moderate.

Also in season

• Cep (penny bun)
• Parasol mushroom
• Field mushroom
• Horn of plenty
• Winter chanterelle
• Hedgehog mushroom

Where mushrooms are fruiting this week · All species