Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca

Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca, the false chanterelle, is a bright orange-yellow to apricot mushroom of conifer and deciduous woodlands that is easily mistaken for the prized edible chanterelle. It is not a recommended edible: it commonly causes gastrointestinal upset, and some reports describe alarming hallucinatory or neurological reactions, so it should be left in the woods. Despite once being grouped with the chanterelles for its colour and decurrent gills, it differs in nearly every other respect and is now placed in the order Boletales.

History

The false chanterelle was described by Elias Fries and given its current combination by René Maire. The genus name Hygrophoropsis means "resembling Hygrophorus," and aurantiaca refers to its orange colour. It was formerly placed in Cantharellus because of its colour, white spore print, and decurrent gills, but mycologists later recognised that its anatomy parallels that of Paxillus rather than the true chanterelles. Molecular work has since moved it into the order Boletales, family Hygrophoropsidaceae — confirming the long-held intuition behind the name "false" chanterelle.

Overview

Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca is a saprotrophic fungus that grows in troops on the ground and on decaying wood, especially in pine and other conifer woods, on heaths, and in rough hill-pastures. The key field marks are its bright orange cap with a wavy, incurved margin, and its thin, crowded, deep-orange, repeatedly forked true gills that run down the stem — in contrast to the true chanterelle's thick, blunt, vein-like folds. Distinguishing it matters: the edible Cantharellus cibarius has shallow ridge-like folds, while the toxic jack-o'-lantern (Omphalotus spp.) has sharp-edged, unforked gills. The false chanterelle has no culinary or established medicinal value and is gathered only by accident; treat the name at face value and do not eat it.