Cantharellus friesii

Description

Cantharellus friesii is a fungus native to Asia and Europe. The cap color varies from deep yellow to reddish-orange and is 2–4 cm wide. It occurs in beech, fir, and spruce forests. C. friesii is considered a good edible mushroom, but because of its rarity, it deserves to be mindfully managed with limited use of fungicides if discovered on residential or commercial property.

Harvesting the fruit bodies of the fungus will allow for further propagation of the species as its spores are dispersed along the collector's travels.

The specific epithet friesii honors the mycologist Elias Magnus Fries.

Common names: Orange or Velvet Chanterelle.

Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   4-5 cm. At first, it is convex, and with age, it can become funnel-shaped. The cap is orange-yellow to orange-reddish. Its fields are strongly wavy or even curly. The pulp of the mushroom is tender. The stem it is white or yellowish. It has a very pleasant smell and a specific sour taste. Thick gills passing to the stem are branched and connected by thin veins. Their color is at first like a cap but later becomes gray-yellow.

2. Stem

   2-4 cm high, and up to 1 cm in diameter, has a thin felt coating and tapers towards the base. The color of the stem changes with age from light orange to yellowish.

3. Habitat

   Grows mainly in the southeastern part of Europe. Places of growth are acidic soils. Most often this species is found in deciduous forests. They fruit in small groups or singly.

4. Spore Print

   Pale yellow.

5. Fruiting Period

   July to October.

6. Edibility

   The nutritional value of these mushrooms is very high. Velvety chanterelles are widely used in cooking. They are suitable for all types of cooking. They have a delicate nutty flavor.

Look-Alikes

1. Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca

   The surface of the cap is velvety, the color is much brighter, and it is always lighter along the edge than in the center. True chanterelle color ranges from light yellow to yellow-orange, and the cap is evenly colored.

2. Omphalotus olearius

   Deadly poisonous mushroom. Found in low mountains and plains. It occurs in the subtropical zone. It grows on stumps, rotten trunks of various deciduous trees (oak, hornbeam) and shrubs.

Synonyms

1. Merulius friesii (Quél.) Kuntze (1891)

2. Revisio generum plantarum

3. Cantharellus ignescens

4. Cantharellus miniatus

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: Vavrin (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 2 - Author: Toter Alter Mann (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Photo 3 - Author: Len Worthington (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Photo 4 - Author: Len Worthington (CC BY-SA 2.0)