Edible and poisonous mushrooms of Canada

CANTHARELLUS
CANTHARELLUS CIBARIUS Fr. Edible
Figure 46, page 25; Figure 411, page 295
Chanterelle
piLEUS 1-4 in. broad, fleshy, firm, convex or sometimes top-shaped,
becoming expanded and then depressed in the center, often irregularly wavy
or lobed, chrome-yellow to egg-yellow, fading in age, slightly fibrillose to
glabrous, not striate, dry. flesh firm, whitish to yellowish, taste mild to somewhat
peppery, odor fruity or sometimes lacking, lamellae decurrent, distant,
forked, thick, blunt on the edge, narrow, yellow, stipe 2-3 in. long, I/2-I in.
thick, narrower toward the base, solid, glabrous, concolorous with the pileus
or paler, spores elhptical, smooth, tinged yellowish in mass, 8-1 1 X 4-6 /x.
Scattered or in groups, or sometimes in small clusters, on the ground in
open woods, either coniferous or deciduous. July-Sept.
Not many mushrooms are sufficiently well known to possess a common
name but this species, which is highly prized as food, especially in Europe, has
many names in diff'erent languages of which the best known is the chanterelle.
The European plants are said to have a fruity odor resembling apricots and,
although this appears to be sometimes lacking in North American chanterelles,
they are none the less desirable for the table. Because of its firm texture this
species may require longer cooking than some of the more tender ones.
It is an important mushroom, for it occurs fairly commonly, is widely
distributed, and is sufficiently distinctive in appearance that it is not likely to
be confused with any other species. It is one that the beginner may easily learn
to recognize and collect with confidence. Care should be taken to distinguish
between this species and the poisonous Clitocybe illudens, which is somewhat
similar in color but has thin, close to crowded lamellae, and usually grows in
large clusters. Clitocybe aurantiaca is another species of doubtful reputation
that might be confused with it, but it is more orange in color and also has
thin, close lamellae.
Cantharellus subalbidus Smith & Morse is a western species that is similar
in stature and appearance to C. cibarius but it is whitish in color and the
spores are white rather than yellowish.
CANTHARELLUS CINNABARINUS Schw. Edible
Figure 47, page 25
PILEUS Yz-lVi
becoming expanded-depressed, often irregular, cinnabar-red, fading when old
in. broad, rarely larger, fleshy, firm, convex, obtuse
or on drying, glabrous, margin often wavy or lobed. flesh ;thin, whitish, red-
dish at the surface, odor and taste mild, lamellae long-decurrent, distant,
forked, thick, blunt on the edge, narrow, varying from red to yellowish or
in. thick, equal or tapering downward,
pinkish, stipe %-] 1/2 in. long, Y^-Va
sometimes compressed at the apex, tough, fleshy, solid or sometimes stuff'ed,
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