I found a large stash of these in the woods (northeast US). I’m pretty well certain of the identification … But I was wondering if there are any problem look-alikes.
My research says probably not. Some sources mention the Jack O’Lantern, which these definitely aren’t. Are there others to watch out for?
And, though it probably belongs in IMHO - any suggested recipies?
Well, there is the ‘False Chanterelle’, Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca. However it has true gills, while a chanterelle does not ( that is to say chanterelles have shallow, blunt “gills”, instead of the blade-like gills you find on most mushrooms like your common store-bought button mushroom ). Not terribly toxic, but perhaps mildly so and not nearly as tasty as a chanterelle. Has a mildly ‘spermatic’ odor.
There are likely a few more, as well, almost all with true gills.
Ah, here’s one possible “false-gilled” mushroom David Arora suggests that might be confused with a chanterelle ( by the way, I am assuming these are your standard orangish chanterelle, not one of the dark or white species ) - the Lobster Mushroom ( Hypomyces lactifluorum ). However that one tends to be more usually solitary or scattered ( it’s a parasite on other mushrooms - Arora suggests it can be gragarious, but in my, admittedly much more limited experience, parasites don’t tend to be found in clusters as much - they’d have to have a complete infection on a cluster of hosts ) and is a passable edible for most, anyway.
By the way, David Arora’s Mushrooms Demystified is the only field guide worth owning for North America ( esp. the Western U.S. ). All the rest are far too limited in scope. Even at that, his is not all-encompassing either. I have two large three-ring binders stuffed full of nothing but photocopied keys for Western U.S. taxa and even that is far from complete for the region.
They are rather pink in color, and trumpet-shaped with blunt “gills” that extend down onto a tapering shaft (not true gills).
Per your suggestion, I checked out the False Chanterelle - it looks like that’s not what I have.
Thanks for the help.
Hmmff… North American Chanterelles should be (pale) orange, not pink… I usually identify chanterelles by smell; they give off a characteristic, very pleasant odour.