Golden chanterelle

Description

The golden chanterelle (kurka in Polish) is an egg-shaped to funnel-shaped mushroom coloured from pale yellow to orange-yellow, with a cap usually a few centimetres across. The underside has no true gills but thick, forked ridges that run smoothly and far down the stem and are the same colour as the cap. The flesh is white or pale yellow, with a fruity, slightly peppery smell.

It grows in deciduous and coniferous forests, often in moss on acidic, sandy soils, from June to late autumn. In Poland it is very common and is not protected.

It is most easily confused with the false chanterelle, which has thin, crowded gills and a more orange colour. When collecting, look for ridges instead of gills and a solid, hard stem. If you are not sure, do not eat it.

Identification features

Cap

Diameter 1–15 cm (descriptions give different ranges). Button-shaped in young fruiting bodies, then convex with an inrolled margin, in older ones spread out, funnel-shaped and irregular. Colour pale yellow to orange-yellow. Surface smooth, matt. Red spots appear on the cap when it is damaged.

Hymenophore (underside of the cap)

Ridges (not true gills): irregular, forked, thick, running far down the stem, often connected by anastomoses; colour the same as the cap.

Stem

Height 3–6 cm, thickness up to 2.5 cm. Colour of the cap, often paler. Base narrowed, wider towards the top and smoothly merging into the cap. Solid, hard, often bent. No ring.

Flesh

White or pale yellow, compact, brittle, fibrous in the stem. Smell fruity, spicy, slightly peppery (according to some descriptions a mild smell of apricots). Taste mild, slightly sour or slightly acrid.

Spore print and spores

Spore print whitish, yellowish or pale ochre-yellow. Spores ellipsoid, smooth, colourless, 7–11 × 4–6.5 µm.

Habitat and distribution

Ecology. Terrestrial mycorrhizal fungus. Grows in deciduous and coniferous forests, often on sandy, acidic soils, usually in moss, often under spruces. Studies in the Netherlands showed that collecting of fruiting bodies by mushroom pickers does not affect the abundance of the species.

Distribution. Europe from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean basin; according to some descriptions cosmopolitan (except Antarctica), although in the strict sense (C. cibarius sensu stricto) it is restricted to Europe. Common in Poland, one of the most frequent forest mushrooms. It is declining in some regions of Europe (e.g. in Germany, presumably because of acid rain). It is not legally protected in Poland; approved for sale.

Fruiting. Usually from June to December; harvest mainly late summer to late autumn.

What can it be confused with?

• Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca (false chanterelle) — Has thin, crowded, true gills and a darker, orange colour. Inedible according to some authors, poisonous according to others.
• Cantharellus amethysteus (amethyst chanterelle) — Cap with felty violet scales, especially in young specimens; mainly in the mountains under beeches, rare.
• Cantharellus friesii (orange chanterelle) — Intensely orange, grows only in beech forests.
• Omphalotus illudens (eastern jack-o'-lantern) — Mentioned as dangerously poisonous and possible to confuse; detailed differences — no data. A North American species.

Never rely on a single feature. If you are not sure — do not pick it; show the mushroom to a qualified mushroom expert.

Interesting facts

• It first appeared on a Polish postage stamp on 8 May 1959 (face value 1 zł, the "Mushrooms of Poland" series); another stamp was issued on 29 August 2014.
• Attempts to cultivate the species so far have failed.
• Long-term studies in the Netherlands showed no effect of collecting of fruiting bodies by mushroom pickers on the abundance of the species.
• In the European Union it is approved for trade and export (CN code 0709 59 10), as a sensitive product.