Cantharellus cibarius

Cantharellus cibarius, commonly known as the golden chanterelle or just chanterelle, is a fungus. It is probably the best known species of the genus Cantharellus, if not the entire family of Cantharellaceae. It is orange or yellow, meaty and funnel-shaped. On the lower surface, underneath the smooth cap, it has gill-like ridges that run almost all the way down its stipe, which tapers down seamlessly from the cap. It has a fruity smell, reminiscent of apricots and a mildly peppery taste (hence its German name, Pfifferling) and is considered an excellent food mushroom. Up to 6.7% of their tissues is vitamin С; as for carotene, they can be as much as 23.1 %, surpassing all known mushrooms. Scientific research has suggested that the golden chanterelle may have potent insecticidal properties that are harmless against humans and yet protects the mushroom body against insects and other potentially harmful organisms.

Distribution

Chantarelles are common in northern parts of Europe and North America, including Mexico, in Asia including the Himalayas, and in Africa including Zambia.

Similar appearance

The False chanterelle (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca) has a similar appearance and can be confused with the chanterelle. Distinguishing factors are color (true Chanterelle is uniform egg-yellow, while the false one is more orange in hue and graded, with darker center) and attachment of gills to the stem (true Chanterelle has them running down the stem unlike the false one).

Another lookalike is the poisonous Jack-O-Lantern mushroom, (Omphalotus olearius).

Edibility

The chanterelle is considered to be one of the best wild mushrooms in the world. Almost all variations of it are edible, including the aptly named luminous chanterelle (not to be confused with Omphalotus olearius)

Translation

The phrase "Cantharellus cibarius" occurs as such in the following languages: English, Spanish, Italian, Piedmontese, Turkish.

Translation(s) in other languages: Bulgarian: Пачи крак, Catalan: Rossinyol (bolet), Danish: Almindelig Kantarel, German: Pfifferling, Estonian: Harilik kukeseen, Esperanto: Kantarelo, Basque: Zizahori, French: Chanterelle, Galician: Cantarela, Indonesian: Jamur chanterelle, Icelandic: Kantarella, Georgian: მიქლიო, Latvian: Parastā gailene, Hungarian: Sárga rókagomba, Dutch: Hanenkam (zwam), Japanese: アンズタケ, Norwegian (Bokmål): Kantarell, Norwegian (Nynorsk): Kantarell, Polish: Pieprznik jadalny, Russian: Лисичка обыкновенная, Slovenian: Navadna lisička, Finnish: Kantarelli, Swedish: Kantarell, Ukrainian: Лисичка справжня.