Cantharellus roseocanus
Index Fungorum 5: 1. 2012.
Common Names: chanterelle, rainbow chanterelle
Synonym: Cantharellus cibarius var. roseocanus
For description see Redhead et al. & 'California Mushrooms'.
Solitary to gregarious, often in small clusters, on mossy soil or in leaf litter under conifers (Sitka spruce, hemlock, fir); locally common, fruiting from fall through mid-winter in the North Coast, Sierra Nevada, and Cascade Ranges.
Edible and excellent.
Cantharellus roseocanus can be distinguished by young caps covered with a pinkish buff bloom juxtaposed with peachy orange to bright orange gill folds. By far, it forms the most brilliantly pigmented hymenophore of any California chanterelle. In the protologue, the authors provided a common name, rainbow chanterelle, because “it sports an array of colors, it occurs in rain forests, and at its end it is golden.” It often grows in the same habitats as Cantharellus formosus, but the latter forms caps that lack a pinkish buff bloom and develop grayish brown shades in age, has paler gill folds usually with pink tones, and readily bruises yellow to ochraceous.
Desjardin, D.E., Wood, M.G. & Stevens, F.A. (2015). California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide. Timber Press: Portland, OR. 560 p.
Foltz, M.J., Perez, K.E. & Volk, T.J. (2013). Molecular phylogeny and morphology reveal three new species of Cantharellus within 20 m of one another in western Wisconsin, USA. Mycologia 105(2): 447-461.
Redhead, S. A. (2012). Nomenclatural Novelties. Index Fungorum 5: 1. (PDF)
Redhead, S.A., Norvell, L. & Danell, E. (1997). Cantharellus formosus and the pacific golden chanterelle harvest in western North America. Mycotaxon 65: 285-322. (Protologue)
Siegel, N. & Schwarz, C. (2016). Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast. Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, CA. 601 p.
Siegel, N. & Schwarz, C. (2024). Mushrooms of Cascadia: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fungi of the Pacific Northwest. Backcountry Press: Keeland, CA. 576 p.
— closeup of "gills"
