Deadly
Deadly Galerina
Galerina marginata
A small brown mushroom of the same mossy, rotting-wood habitat, but it has sharp true gills, a thin ring or ring zone on the stem when fresh, and a rusty-brown spore print.
Yellowfoot
Craterellus tubaeformis
Edible
Also called winter chanterelle, funnel chanterelle, yellow-legs.
The yellowfoot is a small chanterelle relative with a brown, funnel-shaped cap and a hollow yellow stem. It fruits in large numbers on moss and rotting wood in conifer forests and bogs from late summer into winter.
The tell
Small brown funnel cap over grayish false gills and a hollow yellow-orange stem.
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 funnel-shaped, often with a hole in the center that opens into the hollow stem. Dark yellow-brown to grayish brown, with a wavy edge.
- Underside
- Blunt, forked false gills that run down the stem, grayish to pale yellowish or violet-gray.
- Stem
- Yellow to orange-yellow, hollow, often flattened or grooved. No ring and no cup.
- Flesh
- Thin, pliable and pale. Smell is mild.
- Spore print
- Whitish to pale cream.
- Size
- Cap 0.5 to 2 inches wide (1 to 5 cm); stem 1 to 3 inches tall (2.5 to 8 cm).
Where and when
Where and when it grows
- Habitat
- Wet conifer and mixed forests and bogs, often in large troops among moss.
- Grows on
- Moss-covered soil and well-rotted conifer wood.
- Season
- Late summer through fall in the East and North; fall through winter on the West Coast.
- Range
- Widespread across North America, most abundant in northern and Pacific Coast conifer forests.
Lookalikes
What the yellowfoot gets confused with
Each card says how to tell the two apart.
LookalikeFalse Chanterelle
Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca
Orange throughout, with crowded, repeatedly forked true gills and a solid stem, not a brown cap over a hollow yellow stem.
Yellow-veined trumpet (Craterellus lutescens)
A close relative with a brighter orange-yellow underside that is nearly smooth or only shallowly veined, rather than grayish ridges.
More side-by-side comparisons
Edibility
What the field guides say
Edible
Field guides list the yellowfoot as edible and good. It is often gathered in quantity in late fall and winter because it fruits after most other edible mushrooms are done. Small brown mushrooms with true gills, including the deadly galerina, share its mossy, rotting-wood habitat.
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 yellowfoot
What is a yellowfoot mushroom?
A small chanterelle relative, Craterellus tubaeformis, with a brown funnel cap, grayish false gills and a hollow yellow stem. It grows in large numbers in moss and rotting wood in conifer forests from late summer into winter.
Is yellowfoot the same as winter chanterelle?
Yes. Yellowfoot, winter chanterelle, funnel chanterelle and yellow-legs are common names for Craterellus tubaeformis. The name winter chanterelle comes from its late season on the West Coast, where it fruits well into winter.
What mushroom looks like a yellowfoot?
The dangerous one is the deadly galerina, a small brown mushroom that grows in the same mossy, rotting-wood habitat. Galerina has sharp true gills, a thin ring on the stem when fresh, and a rusty-brown spore print, while the yellowfoot has blunt gray ridges and a hollow yellow stem.
Sources
Where these facts come from
- Craterellus tubaeformis
MushroomExpert.com
- Craterellus tubaeformis
MykoWeb, California Fungi
- Craterellus tubaeformis
Index Fungorum
Also on Mushrooms.id
Related species
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