False chanterelle (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca group)

From above, the false chanterelle looks much like a chanterelle. The gills and the flesh give it away. Mushrooms of Cascadia (Siegel & Schwarz) notes that genetic data show at least five Hygrophoropsis species in the Pacific states, most of them undescribed, which is why it is best treated as a group rather than a single species.

Its gills are thin and crowded, and they fork repeatedly. They can look veiny like a chanterelle’s, but they are true gills, narrow and blade-like when mature. Chanterelles have blunt, forked ridges. You can check without picking the mushroom by brushing a finger across the underside of the cap.

The flesh is thin and soft, where a chanterelle’s is thick, white and stringy, and the whole mushroom is less robust than most chanterelles (Siegel & Schwarz).

It grows on well-decayed logs and stumps, in coarse humus and on wood chips. Buried wood can make it look as if it is growing from soil. Chanterelles are mycorrhizal and fruit from soil, moss and needle duff; the yellowfoot (Craterellus tubaeformis) is the exception, since it also fruits around stumps and rotting wood, so use the gills and flesh together with habitat. The false chanterelle is best avoided: it has caused mild reactions in some people.

Chroogomphus tomentosus

Chroogomphus tomentosus has a dry, woolly or felty cap covered in fine fibrils or small scales (Arora). When young it has a fibrous veil joining the cap edge to the stem, which disappears with age. Its flesh is yellow-orange to orange, while a golden chanterelle has whitish, fibrous flesh, and its spores are black (Siegel & Schwarz).

Both have decurrent gills, so the gills are not a reliable way to tell them apart. Check the cap texture and the flesh color, and cut the mushroom open.

Scaly chanterelle (Turbinellus floccosus)

The first time I found this mushroom I thought it was a chanterelle. That was because I had never found a true chanterelle at that point. Once you have held a true chanterelle it should be much easier to avoid confusing the two.

Two features separate the scaly chanterelle from a true chanterelle: the scaly cap and the deep, hollow vase shape. Cantharellus flesh is solid, white and stringy (the yellowfoot is the exception). The scaly chanterelle is not recommended for eating, since it causes gastrointestinal upset in some people, sometimes 8–14 hours after the meal (Ammirati). See the Turbinellus page for details.

Russula brevipes

This Russula can confuse people because its gills can appear to run down the stem. The gills are still thin and blade-like, which chanterelle ridges are not. Peel the flesh apart and it is brittle, where a chanterelle’s is stringy. Russula brevipes is a species complex in Cascadia, so the name covers several species.

Apricot jelly (Guepinia helvelloides)

Shape and color are the only chanterelle-like features of this mushroom. It is a jelly fungus: rubbery or gelatinous, spatula- to funnel-shaped and often split down one side, not firm and stringy. It has no true gills or ridges, though the outer surface can be wrinkled. Guepinia helvelloides is a European name; Danny Miller reports at least two separate species under it in the Pacific Northwest (D. Miller, Danny’s DNA Discoveries).

Western jack-o’-lantern (Omphalotus olivascens)

This orange mushroom has decurrent gills and is sometimes mistaken for a chanterelle. It is mostly a California species, common from Mendocino County south (Siegel & Schwarz, Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast) and recorded as far north as Oregon (D. Miller). It is rare in the Pacific Northwest. It grows in overlapping clusters on stumps and dead roots, usually of oak and other hardwoods. Omphalotus olearius is the European species.

It is poisonous, causing severe vomiting and diarrhea, so a mix-up is more serious than with most chanterelle look-alikes. The easiest way to tell it apart is the gills: they are paper-thin and blade-like, where chanterelles have rounded, veiny ridges. A cluster on wood is another warning sign.

Chanterelle identification

Chanterelle Recipes

Sources: Mushrooms of Cascadia (Siegel & Schwarz, 2024); MycoMatch (© Ian Gibson), a compilation of published descriptions through which most other field-guide authors named here are quoted; Danny’s DNA Discoveries and the PNW Pictorial Key (© Danny Miller).