Edible
Golden Chanterelle
Cantharellus cibarius
Chanterelles grow singly or scattered on soil. They have blunt, forked ridges instead of sharp gills, and they are white inside.
Jack-o'-Lantern
Omphalotus illudens
Toxic lookalike
Also called eastern jack-o'-lantern.
The jack-o'-lantern is a bright orange mushroom that grows in large clusters on stumps and buried roots of hardwoods, mainly oaks, in summer and fall. Its sharp true gills run down the stem and can glow faintly green in the dark. It causes severe vomiting.
The tell
Bright orange clusters on wood with sharp true gills and orange flesh.
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 then flat to funnel-shaped, often with a small central knob. Bright orange to yellow-orange and smooth, with an inrolled edge when young.
- Underside
- True gills: sharp, crowded, orange, and running down the stem. Fresh gills can glow a faint green in near-total darkness.
- Stem
- Orange, tapering toward the base, often fused with neighboring stems in the cluster. No ring and no cup.
- Flesh
- Orange to pale orange throughout, including inside the stem. Smell is not distinctive.
- Spore print
- Cream to pale yellowish.
- Size
- Cap 2 to 8 inches wide (5 to 20 cm); stem 2 to 8 inches tall (5 to 20 cm).
Where and when
Where and when it grows
- Habitat
- Hardwood forests, yards and parks, on or around stumps, the bases of trees and buried roots, especially oaks.
- Grows on
- Dead hardwood, often buried roots, so clusters can appear to grow from soil.
- Season
- Summer to fall, usually July through October.
- Range
- Eastern North America; a related olive-orange species, Omphalotus olivascens, grows in California and southern Oregon.
Lookalikes
What the jack-o'-lantern gets confused with
Each card says how to tell the two apart.
Toxic lookalikeBig Laughing Gym
Gymnopilus junonius
Also clustered and orange on wood, but it has a ring on the stem and a rusty-orange spore print.
EdibleChicken of the Woods
Laetiporus sulphureus
Chicken of the woods forms flat, overlapping shelves with a sulfur-yellow pore surface underneath.
More side-by-side comparisons
Edibility
What the field guides say
Toxic lookalike
Field guides list the jack-o'-lantern as poisonous. It contains illudins, compounds that cause severe vomiting, cramps and diarrhea, usually beginning within a few hours of a meal. Poisonings usually follow confusion with chanterelles.
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 jack-o'-lantern
Is a jack-o'-lantern mushroom poisonous?
Yes. Field guides list Omphalotus illudens as poisonous. It contains illudins, which cause severe vomiting, cramps and diarrhea, usually within a few hours of a meal.
Do jack-o'-lantern mushrooms glow in the dark?
Fresh gills can give off a faint green glow, a form of bioluminescence. The light is weak, visible only in near-total darkness after the eyes adjust, and not every specimen glows noticeably.
How do you tell a jack-o'-lantern from a chanterelle?
Jack-o'-lanterns grow in tight clusters from wood or buried roots, have sharp, crowded true gills, and are orange inside. Chanterelles grow singly or scattered on soil, have blunt, forked ridges, and are white inside.
Sources
Where these facts come from
- Omphalotus illudens
MushroomExpert.com
- Omphalotus illudens
Fungi Growing on Wood, Gary Emberger (MushroomExpert.com)
- Jack-o'-Lantern
Missouri Department of Conservation
- Omphalotus illudens
Index Fungorum
Also on Mushrooms.id
Related species
Edible
Cinnabar Chanterelle
Cantharellus cinnabarinus
Small, cinnabar-red chanterelle with pinkish-red forked false gills.
Lookalike
False Chanterelle
Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca
Orange cap with thin, crowded, repeatedly forked true gills, on rotting conifer wood or duff.
Edible when well cooked
Honey Mushroom
Armillaria mellea
Dense clusters of honey-colored caps on wood, with a ring on the stem and a white spore print.
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.
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