Smooth Chanterelle (Cantharellus lateritius)

🏷️ Description

Cantharellus lateritius, also known as the Smooth Chanterelle, is a vibrant yellow-orange mushroom that brightens up summer woodlands across North America, Africa, and Asia. 🌍 Unlike its famous cousin, the Golden Chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius), this beauty has a smooth undersurface instead of ridges—hence the name!

This edible fungus has a mild aroma reminiscent of apricots 🍑 and a subtly acrid taste, making it a hit-or-miss for foragers. While some find it less flavorful than its relatives, creative chefs have unlocked its potential—like in the game-changing Chanterelles à l’Orange recipe by Illinois chef Lasse Sorensen! 🍽️

Beyond the kitchen, this mushroom boasts carotenoid compounds that give it its striking color and may hold nutritional benefits. Plus, it plays a vital role in nature by forming ectomycorrhizal partnerships with trees, helping forests thrive. 🌳✨

🔎 Identification

🧢 Cap: 2–12 cm wide, flattened to funnel-shaped with a wavy, incurved margin. Bright orange-yellow, fading to yellow with age. Surface is dry and slightly hairy (tomentose).

🛖 Undersurface: Starts smooth, later developing shallow wrinkles or vein-like ridges. Pale yellow, often with a pinkish hue.

🌿 Stem: 1.5–10 cm long, 0.5–2 cm thick, plump and stout, tapering at the base. Same color as the cap or paler, sometimes with white basal mycelium. Stuffed or solid inside.

🍑 Flesh & Aroma: White and does not change when cut. Has a sweet, fruity fragrance like apricots! Taste is mild to slightly acrid.

🍂 Spore Print: Pale pinkish yellow. Spores are smooth, ellipsoid (6.5–9 × 4–5.5 µm), appearing pale yellow under a microscope.

🧪 Chemical Reactions:

• Iron salts: Flesh turns pinkish-gray to gray

• Undersurface: Dark gray reaction

🌳 Habitat & Ecology:

• Mycorrhizal with oaks and hickories

• Grows alone, scattered, or in loose clusters in hardwood forests

• Found summer to fall, east of the Rocky Mountains, as well as Africa, Malaysia, and the Himalayas

• Sometimes appears in grass near oaks or on sloping creek banks

👀 Look-Alikes

1️⃣ Cantharellus cibarius – The classic golden chanterelle is more yellow and has a more textured hymenial surface. C. lateritius is pinker and smoother! 🌸✨

2️⃣ Cantharellus odoratus – Looks similar but has thinner flesh and a hollow stem—a delicate twin! 🏺

3️⃣ Cantharellus flavolateritius – Nearly identical! You’ll need microscopy or DNA analysis to tell them apart. 🔬

4️⃣ Cantharellus confluens – Looks almost the same but often has multiple caps from a single stem—a chanterelle with a twist! 🌱

5️⃣ Craterellus odoratus – A thin-fleshed, fragile, and truly vase-shaped look-alike. Handle with care! 🚰

6️⃣ Omphalotus olearius – This toxic doppelgänger is brighter orange, grows in clusters, and has true gills with sharp edges. It even glows in the dark! Stay away! 🚨👀

📜 Synonyms

• Thelephora cantharella Schw. (1822)

• Craterellus cantharellus (Schw.) Fr. (1838)

• Craterellus lateritius Berk. (1873)

• Trombetta lateritia (Berk.) Kuntze (1891)

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: David Wilkins (CC BY 4.0)

Photo 2 - Author: Andrea Villarreal Rodríguez (CC BY 4.0)

Photo 3 - Author: Daniel Patterson (CC BY 4.0)

Photo 4 - Author: Will Kuhn (CC BY 4.0)