504 



The Edible Chanterelle (Edible) 

 CantJiarcllus cibarius Fries 



CantliarcUus cibarius grows nn the ground in woods from Tune to 

 September. It is widely distributed and often very abundant in mid- 

 summer of a rainy year. 



The cap is 5 to 10 cm. (2 to 4 inches) broad, fleshy, rather thick, 

 at first convex and with the margin incurved, then flat, and finally 

 somewhat funnel-shaped. It is firm, with a smooth surface, but often 

 quite irregular, with its margin wavy, and sometimes more or less one- 

 sided, that is, with one side developed more than the other. The color 

 is rich egg-yellow. The flesh is white, peppery to the taste when raw. 

 and usually with a faint odor of apricots. 



The gills are thick but so narrow that they appear like swollen 

 veins. Thev are quite far apart, usuall}- crookeil, and fork or run into 

 each other irregularlv and extend down the stem somewhat (decur- 

 rent). They are colored like the cap. The spores are white or faintly 

 yellowish. 



The stem is short, firm and solid, smr)oth, often tapering dow-n- 

 ward, sometimes curved, and colored like the cap but usually a shade 

 lighter. There is no ring and no volva. 



This plant is highlv prized everywhere as an edible species. The 

 peppery taste of the fresh plants entirely disappears on cooking. 



There is another plant, C rater cUits cantliarcUus, which grows in 

 the same situations as the edible chanterelle, often rii^ht along with it, 

 and which verv closelv resembles it. The color, taste, and odor are 

 the same. The Craterellus is classified in an entirely different family, 

 however, because of the fact that it has no gills, the under side of the 

 cap being perfectly smooth. Rut intermediate forms occur which are 

 verv difiicult to classifv, and there is some question whether the two 

 plants are mA really the same. At any rate both are equally good to 

 eat, so that no harm can come from mistaking the one for the other. 

 The photograph opposite this i)age shows both plants. The figure at 

 the right is Craterellus eautharellus, the middle specimen is Cantharcl- 

 Ins cibarius, while the two at the left are intermediate forms, which, 

 liowever, would be called, bv most collectors, Cautharcllus cibarius. 



Collected in Champaign, Jackson, and Union counties. 



