I need help with positively ID'ing a chanterelle!

[spamel]

Crazy I know, as I only posted last night how difficult it is to do this via the internet! Rogers Mushrooms has sort of helped, but I know about the False Chanterelle and a few others that resemble the humble Pfefferling which aren't on their database. I looked in the mushroom books I own, but not really showing much, and had a look in Rays' Bushcraft book which explains about the chanterelle imposters, but not in any great detail.

So, have a look at this one. Now, I insist I am not gonna eat this one, but I'd like to get a fair idea as I know where a load of these are growing on the ground underneath a beech tree or two. Positively ID'ing it is for the future when I can get hold of a decent field guide, but I reckon it is a chanterelle. If you need more detailed pics, give me a shout before I bin it.

[xylaria]

False chanerelle has yellow flesh inside and crowded gills
Jack-o-lantern (piosonous) has orange flesh in the inside and deep gills
And Chanerelles have pale flesh and very shallow gill like folds.

From what i can see from your picture, i see shallow gills and pale flesh so that makes it a chanterelle.

To check to see if it is jack-o-lantern, switch off the light and see if it glows green in the dark.

[spamel]

No glowing, I read about that (God, I sound like Hermione Granger! ) and thought they were only in America?

[Tantalus]

lol pfefferling , i had to relearn all the english names too when I moved back to the UK.

They supposed to smell like apricots but i never smelled it yet

Ok looked them both up for you here is what my "bible" says

Cantharellus cibarius : Fruiting body funnel shaped fleshy, orange yellow, forked folds, stipe solid. Top-shaped, more or less hollow, up to 15 cm tall and 10 cm diameter (often less).

More omitted as it covers the above then goes into shape of spores under a microscope

This excellent edible species has a number of colour varieties including var. amathysteus which has small lilac scales on the cap , and var. alborufescens a southern species which is very pale but soon spotted rusty. Cantharellus fresii which is a much brighter orange and often slender, smells strongly of apricots.

So that explains why I never smell apricots lol, so on to the false chanterelle.

Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca

Edible but mediocre, often confused with the false chanterelle from which it differs in its soft flesh thin forked gills and often brighter colours.

Oh and the false one has a white spore print , the real chanterelle it doesnt mention a spore print which is odd.

Not much help I know but you can eat them whatever they are

Oh the book is a neat one its Collins "The wildlife Trusts" Mushrooms of Britain and Europe by Regis Courtecuisse

isbn 0 00 220012 0

Cost me £17 about 5 years ago

Tant

[xylaria]

You get jack-o-lanterns in scotland and france. They like warm pine forests.

Here is some links
http://www.nemf.org/files/lincoff/fi...nterelles.html
http://www.lavendelfoto.com/fr/ansic...ius-1-3356.htm

I got a abit confused on spore print colour for chanterelles as some books say white some say pale yellow, or yellow

[Tantalus]

Hmmm Jack O lantern likes stumps and roots, specially oak

Seems to grow in much more of a cluster than chanterelles too or is that just the pics misleading ?

Also a white spore print , the luminescence is a give away though.

Tant

[spamel]

These Chanterelles were growing on the ground, spaced out quite loosely with a foot or so between them at the most. They smell mushroomy, what can I say! What i need is a chemist that will positively ID them like on the continent!

[Tantalus]

Yeah a few chemists would be a good thing.

hmmmmm now you have me thinking, I'm sure our local chemist has a new polish assistant.

Might be worht a shot, do they train chemists in this stuff in Poland ?

Can see the little old ladies freaking out as I dump a bag of assorted fungi out on the counter in Boots

Tant

[xylaria]

Are you going NW meet? Pick a bag mid next week and I will have a look but I may have taste test a large plateful just make sure . They keep quite well in a paper bag in the fridge for up to five days.

[gregorach]

I've never found the apricot smell that disctintive, but it is there... I guess being a smoker doesn't help with scent identification.

That specimen certainly looks like a chanterelle to me.

[spamel]

Are you going NW meet? Pick a bag mid next week and I will have a look but I may have taste test a large plateful just make sure . They keep quite well in a paper bag in the fridge for up to five days.

I'll see what I can do, although some of them looked a bit nobbled! Maybe the squirrels had a go at them!

[xylaria]

I'll see what I can do, although some of them looked a bit nobbled! Maybe the squirrels had a go at them!

Squirrel/slug/dormouse/badger nibbled makes no difference, animals germinate the fungi by eating it, I often eat ones that have nibbled. But if you store ones infected with fly eggs they hatch and you get fish bait which is pretty gross. Don't feel obligated to bring any to delemere, i know exactly how awkward to can be to bring fungi to a meet.

[spamel]

Could be badgers, as it is next to the field I often see the badgers in! There were probably a meals worth on the ground, although a small meal, so I will see how many are there mid week and grab them. They seem to be very dirty though, is it best to brush them off like boletes or can you wash them?

[xylaria]

Mushrooms need either washing or brushing before cooking so the dish is not soily, but it is not necessary before then unless there is big bits of soil, and leaves stuck to them. Don't wash them if they need to stored or transported.

I have known people that peel shop mushrooms because they are grown in cow poo. I have explained that the soil is sterilized. Generally a bit of dirt is good for you.