Winter chanterelle Craterellus tubaeformis

Right now

When to look

From September to December. Favourable temperatures: 5 to 15 °C. It usually fruits 5 to 13 days after at least 10 mm of rain.

Where to look

Habitat

Conifers, moss, acidic soils

Soil

Acid-loving (conifers, moss) (pH 4.0 to 5.5)

How to recognise it

A small species 3 to 6 cm, cap grey-brown to ochre-brown, thin, flat then hollowed by a central depression often pierced through into the stem, with an irregular, wavy margin. The underside bears forked, widely spaced folds, beige-grey to yellowish, running down the stem, and not true gills. Stem bright yellow to orange, slender, hollow (it collapses when pinched), often flattened or grooved. Flesh thin, smell faint. Fruits in large troops, often in lines, in the moss and litter of broadleaf, mixed or conifer woods, on acidic, damp soil, readily near decaying dead wood or on mossy stumps, late in the season and until the frosts.

Dangerous look-alikes

• Jelly baby

  Leotia lubrica
  poisonous

  A small species, entirely gelatinous and slimy to the touch, with a rounded, smooth olive head without the slightest fold underneath, and a solid, soft stem. It grows in the same moss and gets picked by accident.

Foraging tips

Dangerous look-alikes are rare for this species: checking for the hollow stem when pinched and the forked folds under the cap is enough in the vast majority of cases. It dries very well and rehydrates without loss; eat cooked.

Model reliability

Reliability for this species: moderate.

Also in season

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

Where mushrooms are fruiting this week · All species