Chanterelle (Cantharellus species)

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.

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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.

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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.

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Identification resources:

Michael Kuo, MushroomExpert.com:

- ‘Cantharellus cibarius’: The Chantarelle

- Cantharellus lateritius 

Wikipedia

- Cantharellus cibarius

- Cantharellus lateritius