August 11th, 2012. We hadn’t been down in the
Fishing Creek Wildlife Management Area in Wilkes County, Georgia, for a while
so we retraced our way along most of the roads. One road leads threads its way
through the woods to a small meadow. Access beyond this area is only for
vehicles with handicapped permits.
Just a little way along this road we spotted
bright yellow mushrooms and, judging from their shape even at a distance, they
were chantarelles. I’d never seen chantarelles ‘in the flesh’ before. When we
lived in the Pacific Northwest, I’d heard that chantarelles could be found in
the woods surrounding a rural airstrip but we never searched for them. But here
they were right under our noses; too good an opportunity to pass up.
*****
Part of a large ‘fairy circle’
A cluster of mushrooms that formed part of that
circle.
The specimen mushrooms were on the other side of
the road. Two of them, bright yellow with caps that were approximately 4 to 5
inches in diameter.
*****
From
above
From an angle
Showing the gills running from the edge of the
cap down the stem. The false, forked gills are clearly visible in this
photograph.
Several
Cantharellus species occur in the United States. Based on photographs, this
mushroom could be either Cantharellus cibarius or C. lateritius, edible
mushrooms. Cantharellus species may be confused with Omphalotus olearius which
is poisonous. These mushrooms are similar in color. However, Cantharellus
species have false gills which are forked whereas O. olearius has true gills
that are not forked.
Click on an image to view a larger image
Identification resources:
Michael
Kuo, MushroomExpert.com:
Wikipedia
- Cantharellus lateritius
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