Turbinellus floccosus (Schwein.) Earle
Bull. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 18: 407. 1909.
Common Name: woolly chanterelle
Synonym: Gomphus floccosus (Schwein.) Singer
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.
Fertile surface wrinkled or with blunt ridges and veins, occasionally nearly poroid, yellow, fading to cream-buff.
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 10-14 x 5-7.5 µm, elliptical, wrinkled to warted, nonamyloid; ochraceous in mass.
Solitary to gregarious in mixed hardwood/conifers woods; fruiting from late fall to early winter.
Questionable. Some claim it causes gastrointestinal upsets in some persons, although it is commonly sold in the markets in Mexico and eaten there.
Although Turbinellus floccosus resembles a chanterelle, it is not closely related. It 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. Turbinellus kauffmanii is a larger cousin, also with a scaly pileus, but is buff-brown in color.
This species has long been called Gomphus floccosus, but recent molecular evidence shows it clearly belongs in a clade separate from true Gomphus, e.g. Gomphus clavatus.
Corner, E.J.H. (1966). A Monograph of Cantharelloid Fungi. Oxford University Press: London, England. 255 p.
Earle, F.S. (1909). The Genera of the North American Gill Fungi. Bull. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 18: 373-451. (Protologue)
Giachini A. (2004). Systematics, Phylogeny, and Ecology of Gomphus sensu lato. Ph.D. Dissertation. Oregon State University: Corvalis, OR. 446 p.
Smith, A.H. & Morse, E.E. (1947). The genus Cantharellus in the western United States. Mycologia 39(5): 497-534.
Thiers, H.D.(1985). The Agaricales (Gilled Fungi) of California. 3. Gomphidiaceae. Mad River Press: Eureka, CA. 20 p.
— very young!
