Gomphus floccosus (Schw.) Singer
Lloydia 8: 140. 1945.

Common Name: Woolly Chanterelle

• Pileus

  Cap cylindrical, becoming vase-shaped or funnelform, up to 15 cm broad, the margin plane to strongly uplifted; surface moist, nearly smooth when young, squamulose to coarsely scaly at maturity, especially at the center, the scales sometimes flat and inconspicuous when weathered; color yellowish-orange to reddish-orange fading in age; flesh moderately thick, white, unchanging; odor and taste mild.

• Hymenium

  Fertile surface wrinkled or with blunt ridges and veins, occasionally nearly poroid, yellow, fading to cream-buff.

• Stipe

  Stipe up to 12 cm tall, 1.5-3.0 cm thick, stout, not distinct from the pileus, attachment variable, central or slightly eccentric, tapering downward, hollow to near the base; surface dry, colored like the hymenium, sometimes discoloring brown; flesh white, unchanging; veil absent.

• Spores

  Spores 10-14 x 5-7.5 µm, elliptical, wrinkled to warted, nonamyloid; ochraceous in mass.

• Habitat

  Solitary to gregarious in mixed hardwood/conifers woods; fruiting from late fall to early winter.

• Edibility

  Questionable. May cause gastrointestinal upsets in some persons.

• Comments

  This member of the chanterelle clan is characterized by an orange, scaly, funnel-shaped fruiting body and a yellow to cream-colored wrinkled hymenium. The shape is suggestive of the "true" chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius), but the hollow core and scaly pileus easily distinguish it. Gomphus kauffmanii is a larger cousin, also with a scaly pileus, but is buff-brown in color. Another Gomphus species which occurs in our area is G. bonarii. It tends to fruit in cespitose clusters and has a buff to pale cinnamon-brown cap.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Michael Boom: Gomphus floccosus (CP)
  • Boleslaw Kuznik: Gomphus floccosus (CP)
  • Nathan Wilson: Gomphus floccosus (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Gomphus floccosus (CP) -- very young!
  • Michael Wood: Gomphus floccosus (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Gomphus floccosus (CP)
  • Boleslaw Kuznik -- Hunting for Mushrooms: Gomphus floccosus (CP)
  • Eileen's Mushroom Mania: Gomphus floccosus (CP)
  • George Barron's Fungi of Canada (East): Gomphus floccosus (D & CP)
  • Spotlight on Fungi: Gomphus floccosus (D & CP)
  • Ammirati et al.: p. 252 (D), fig. 131 (I), fig 192 (CP)
  • Arora (1986): p. 661 (D), plate 174 (CP)
  • Arora (1991): p. 8 (D & CP)
  • Lincoff: p. 396 (D), plates 430, 431 (CP)
  • McKenny et al.: p. 29 (D), p. 30 CP)
  • Miller: sp. 260 (D & CP)
  • Phillips: p. 212 (CP), p. 213 (D)
  • Smith (1975): sp. 38 (D & CP) [Cantharellus floccosus]
  • Smith & Weber: sp. 54 (D & CP) [Cantharellus floccosus]
  • Thiers (1985): p. 23 (D)

  (D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)