About this fungus
Smooth Chanterelle is a fungus in the Cantharellaceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
A solid, orange-yellow chanterelle with an irregular wavy cap and a fertile underside that is almost smooth or only shallowly wrinkled rather than gilled.
What to check
Turn the fruit body over. The fertile surface runs down the stem but is smooth to faintly wrinkled, without true sharp-edged gills. The stem is solid and continuous with the cap, and there is no ring or volva. A sweet, often apricot-like odour can support the identification but varies and should not replace the underside and growth-habit checks.
Variation
Young caps are broadly convex to flat and become shallowly vase-shaped with a wavy, uneven margin. Colour ranges from pale yellow to vivid orange-yellow, sometimes developing orange-brown bruising or darkened margins. The underside can be completely smooth or develop low veins that approach a weakly ridged surface.
Lookalikes
Golden chanterelles have more developed blunt, forked ridges. Craterellus odoratus is thinner, fragile and truly vase-shaped, while Cantharellus confluens often produces several caps from one stem. Poisonous Omphalotus species grow from wood or buried roots, often in dense clusters, and have numerous thin, sharp true gills. Do not use orange colour alone.
Habitat and range
Mycorrhizal on soil with oaks and sometimes hickories in eastern North America, usually in summer and early autumn. Reports under this name from other continents may refer to related smooth chanterelles, and the eastern North American concept itself shows enough variation to need further molecular study.
Food safety
Choice edible.
Use this profile to learn what to examine and compare, not as proof that a mushroom is safe to eat. Check the whole specimen and every important lookalike before reaching an identification.
Photographs
Dan Molter / CC BY-SA 3.0