sherb Posted August 12, 2014 Report Share Posted August 12, 2014 Hey all. New to the forum, new to hunting. I found these in the western NC mountains yesterday, under approximately 40 to 60 year hardwood forest with an extremely dense rhododenron understory, 5000' elevation, almost boggy, heavy leaf litter. I think the thicker are the goldens (found on edge of forest road) and the thinner (under the rhodos) are the minors or ignicolors but not sure. What I think are the minors have an almost peachy/greyish skin color on the underside. Would appreciate some verification. Also saw black trumpets but did not know they were until I really started studying after returning home. I want to cook up some risotto, but being my first time ever collecting am a wee bit apprehensive. I am fairly confident they are not the false chanterelles by studying hundreds of photos online. Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Edit - added another find from this morning. I think these are the goldens? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianf Posted August 12, 2014 Report Share Posted August 12, 2014 hey sherb, fairly new myself around here, but welcome none the less. the first ones are certainly golden chanterelle. safe to eat, unless you carry some form of allergy. the seconds ones are probably some form of craterellus. they're quite uncommon up here, occasionally find some ignicolor, but they're usually pure yellow with no graying. those are fairly large sized too. i wouldn't particularly eat those because they don't look so hot. but I can't be 100 percent certain as I don't get to experience them often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianf Posted August 12, 2014 Report Share Posted August 12, 2014 Third pic on the bottom, the additional pic looks more like false chanterelles or hygrophoropsis. They look a little different than I'm used to......I wouldn't eat those two. Well, I would probably eat those two, but I wouldn't recommend it to most. You should try to find an expert local to your area to fully identify species that are good to eat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianf Posted August 12, 2014 Report Share Posted August 12, 2014 One last word of advice......don't eat anything you find yourself by yourself in your first year period. unless you can find a local expert to visually inspect in person and confirm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherb Posted August 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2014 Thank you for the feedback. Great counsel. Im dying to make some risotto, but dont want to die consuming said risotto. I will follow your advice in finding a local expert. I am self tought in most of my pursuits and tend to dive all in from one hobby to the next, borderline obsessive. But, think I will take a step back on this one and find a mentor. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Smalldridge Posted August 13, 2014 Report Share Posted August 13, 2014 Sherb, there is the asheville mushroom club that meets and has outings in western N.C. They have a website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherb Posted August 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2014 Yes. It appears that most of their outings are in the greater Asheville/Pisgah area. Im still at least an hour west, the "real" WNC, haha. I may join, not really a club person, but feel I need to find a mentor. Thanks for the reply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianf Posted August 13, 2014 Report Share Posted August 13, 2014 Don't be discouraged sherb. Store bought oyster mushrooms make real good in a risotto for the time being. Nothing chanterelle or the confusable related mushrooms will kill you, but they can or may make you fell quite poorly. It's more about establishing your own general protocol when approaching all mushrooms and training one's self to have reservations when consuming wild food ingeneral. It helps to be extremely scrutinous on even chanterelle's when starting out. Develop good, safe practices early on and easily avoid not only death, but many trips to the bathroom. Guides are actually a good idea, even for well experienced mushroom hunters (I should and will heed my own advice, as I have not really operated with a guide in sometime. also, some of the best guides out there period are based on mushrooms of the northeast.) Like John and I suggested, joining a club or at least seeking out the advice of a known expert is a VERY good idea when starting out. Do your best to ID everything on your own first, just don't trust it enough to eat it. Who knows, depending on your learning curve you might even be confidently making that chanterelle risotto by the middle of october! Good luck and stay safe. Again, be patient and don't get discouraged. It's actually a great hobby that will eventually result in some highly choice edible, exceptionally FREE food. Some folks even turn it into some fairly lucrative supplemental income......or perhaps a fairly paltry living. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted August 14, 2014 Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 The one toxic type to know when gathering chanterelles is Jack o Lantern, Omphalotus illudens. None of the ones seen here are O. illudens. I don't see any Hygrophoropsis mushrooms here. When first learning chanterelles, I think it's a good idea to stick with the common cibarius or lateritius types. These are the classic Golden Chanterelles and Smooth Chanterelles. Most areas seem to get mainly one or the other type. Experimenting with the various Craterellus types (except for Black Trumpets, which are a good type for a beginner) is better left for a more advanced collector. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianf Posted August 14, 2014 Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 The "gills" on the mushrooms in the third photograph look suspect. Look just like the hygro's sold in european markets as "golden chanterelle" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Smalldridge Posted August 14, 2014 Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 Sherb, the things I look for in chanterelles (cibarius) are rounded gills that are forked and cross veined, good solid stems, fruity smell, growing on soil and white flesh throughout. Chanterelles to me are the perfect beginner mushroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted August 15, 2014 Report Share Posted August 15, 2014 I'm pretty certain the ones in the third photo are chanterelles. Fertile surface on the yellow types vary from smooth, to veined, to rounded gill-like, to fairly sharp-edged gill-like. There are different species included under the heading "yellow chanterelle" or "golden chanterelle." Hygrophoropsis mushrooms have "true gills." This means the context which comprises the gills is different from the context that comprises the rest of the cap. In the photo below, one sees a division between the two types of context in a sectioned Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca. Chanterelles have "false gills." The context comprising the gills is the same as the rest of the cap, with the fertile structure consisting of molded/shaped context. The photo below shows a yellow chanterelle which features well-developed false gills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianf Posted August 17, 2014 Report Share Posted August 17, 2014 I'll take your word for it. I'm no professional. The mushrooms in the third pic still look somewhat strange to me. They're what I would consider full grown, but have almost no definition in the gills. And the gills look as though they can be separated from the remainder of the cap, which I thought was a characteristic of the hygros. It's a white/cream colored gill structure which looks to be surrounding yellow flesh. At least we can admit it's a slightly unusual looking chanterelle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherb Posted August 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2014 I greatly appreciate the responses. We have entered a dry spell, but I am still looking for ideal locations in areas we often enjoy hiking/walking the dogs. Next up black trumpets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feral Boy Posted August 25, 2014 Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 The last photo is of a smooth chanterelle, Cantharellus lateritius. They do occur with VERY shallow folds underneath the cap like that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted August 26, 2014 Report Share Posted August 26, 2014 I agree with Feral Boy on that last photo (first group... original post). Smooth Chanterelles do develop folds/veins on the fertile surface. This type chanterelle occurs only in hardwood forests. Photo shows particularly well-developed fertile surface on C. lateritius. Color is paler than in reality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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