A large, vase- or trumpet-shaped conifer associate with a hollow, scaly, red-orange to orange-brown top and a cream, wrinkled-ridged underside running down the stem. It is a common and conspicuous mushroom in western North American conifer forests. It is POISONOUS to many people, causing delayed gastrointestinal illness, and is a frequent source of confusion with true chanterelles.
POISONOUS to many people; not recommended. It causes nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, sometimes delayed 8-14 hours; alpha-tetradecylcitric acid (norcaperatic acid) is the suspected cause. It is eaten in Mexico, northeast India and Nepal, but those populations appear genetically distinct. Do not confuse with true chanterelles (Cantharellus), which are not deeply vase-shaped or scaly-topped and have shallow, blunt, forked false gills.
Never eat a wild mushroom based on a web page — confirm with an expert.
Habitat
Ectomycorrhizal with conifers including Douglas-fir, true firs, pines, spruces and hemlocks; alone, scattered or in arcs and groups, more abundant in older stands. Summer and fall; over winter along the West Coast.
Distribution
North America, most common in the West (coastal Alaska and British Columbia through the Cascades and Sierra Nevada to central California), also in northern and montane eastern North America and Mexico; Asia (Japan, Korea, China, Tibet, India, Nepal, Pakistan). Beaty Biodiversity Museum notes that central and eastern North American collections probably represent different, unnamed species.
Characteristics
Fruitbody: 6-14 cm high, 4-11 cm across, vase-shaped with a deep central depression. Cap: covered in coarse, upturned scales; bright red-orange to dull brownish orange. Underside: shallow, blunt, gill-like ridges and wrinkles running far down the stem; cream when fresh, becoming brownish. Stem: 4-10 cm long, 2-3.5 cm thick, merging with the cap. Flesh: white, fibrous. Taste: sweetish to sour. Chemical: iron salts dark green on the underside. Spore print: yellowish to brownish. Spores: ellipsoid, finely warty, about 11-17 x 5.5-7.5 um (MushroomExpert; Wikipedia).
