Hygrophorus cantharellus       Chanterelle Hygrophorus

NOTE:  This was the shot chosen by the publishers for my book on mushrooms.  Interestingly it was NOT one of the several shots that I suggested to the publishers myself.  Although I had no strong objections and after all it is THEIR money.

Formal Description

Caps are 0.5-3 cm across, dry, scurfy to minutely scaly, convex to flat or depressed and umbilicate, with a scalloped margin, bright orange-red, and fading to orange or yellow.  Gills are decurrent, well-spaced, broad, and usually paler than cap.   Stalks are up to 8 cm tall by 4 mm broad, smooth, and coloured as the cap or paler.   Spore prints are  white.  It fruits on the ground in moist woods.   Also called Hygrocybe cantharellus.