Toxic lookalike
Jack-o'-Lantern
Omphalotus illudens
Jack-o'-lanterns are orange rather than red, much larger, grow in clusters on wood or roots, and have sharp true gills.
Cinnabar Chanterelle
Cantharellus cinnabarinus
Edible
Also called red chanterelle.
The cinnabar chanterelle is a small, bright red to pinkish-red chanterelle of eastern North American hardwood forests. It has blunt, forked false gills like other chanterelles and fruits in summer and early fall, often on mossy banks and trailsides.
The tell
Small, cinnabar-red chanterelle with pinkish-red forked false gills.
Field marks
What to look at
Cap, underside and stem show in a photo. The spore print does not, and it is often the deciding check.
- Cap
- Convex becoming flat or shallowly vase-shaped with a wavy edge, cinnabar red to pinkish red, fading paler with age.
- Underside
- Blunt, forked false gills with cross-veins, running down the stem, pinkish red to red, the same color as the cap or slightly paler.
- Stem
- Red to pinkish red, often paler toward the base. No ring and no cup.
- Flesh
- Thin, whitish to pinkish. Smell is mild to faintly fruity.
- Spore print
- Pinkish cream.
- Size
- Cap 0.5 to 1.5 inches wide (1 to 4 cm); stem 0.75 to 1.5 inches tall (2 to 4 cm).
Where and when
Where and when it grows
- Habitat
- Oak and other hardwood forests and mixed woods, often on mossy soil along trails, roadcuts and stream banks.
- Grows on
- Soil, mycorrhizal with tree roots.
- Season
- Summer to early fall.
- Range
- Eastern North America east of the Great Plains.
Lookalikes
What the cinnabar chanterelle gets confused with
Each card says how to tell the two apart.
Edibility
What the field guides say
Edible
Field guides list the cinnabar chanterelle as edible, though its small size means it is collected less often than golden chanterelles. North American red chanterelles have recently been divided into more than one species based on DNA.
This page states what field guides record. It is not advice to eat, taste or handle anything, and a photo cannot settle edibility. If someone has eaten a wild mushroom that may be toxic, call poison control (1-800-222-1222 in the US) right away, before symptoms start: the deadliest species act hours later.
FAQ
Questions about the cinnabar chanterelle
Is the red chanterelle edible?
Field guides list Cantharellus cinnabarinus as edible. It is small, usually under 1.5 inches across, and grows scattered in eastern hardwood forests in summer.
What does a cinnabar chanterelle look like?
A small red to pinkish-red mushroom with a wavy cap and blunt, forked ridges on the underside instead of sharp gills. The ridges run down a short red stem, and the whole mushroom fades paler as it ages.
Where do cinnabar chanterelles grow?
On the ground in oak and mixed hardwood forests of eastern North America, often on mossy banks, trail edges and roadcuts. They fruit from early summer into early fall.
Sources
Where these facts come from
- Cantharellus cinnabarinus
MushroomExpert.com
- Cinnabar Chanterelle
Missouri Department of Conservation
- Cantharellus cinnabarinus
Index Fungorum
Also on Mushrooms.id
Related species
Edible
Lobster Mushroom
Hypomyces lactifluorum
A misshapen mushroom covered in a bright orange-red crust, with the gills reduced to blunt ridges and firm white flesh inside.
Edible
Golden Chanterelle
Cantharellus cibarius
Egg-yolk yellow to orange vase with blunt, forked ridges instead of true gills.
Edible
Pacific Golden Chanterelle
Cantharellus formosus
Golden-orange vase with pinkish-tinged forked ridges, under Douglas-fir and hemlock in the Pacific Northwest.
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