Estimated value
$4–12/lb fresh
Volume mushroom. $4–8/lb typical. Hollow yellow stems sell the ID.
culinary · choice
Winter Chanterelle / Yellowfoot
Craterellus tubaeformis
Also called Funnel chanterelle
Field marks
- Spore print
- Pale yellow
- Smell
- Mild, fruity, peppery
- Trees / hosts
- Hemlock, Spruce, Fir
- Elevation
- Low coastal to montane.
Description
Small funnel with a brown-yellow cap, blunt ridges, and a hollow yellow-orange stem. Fruits in huge troops late fall into winter on mossy conifer ground.
Where it grows
Very wet mossy conifer forests.
How to find it
After frosts, walk wet moss under hemlock. Once you see one, the hillside is often covered.
How to pick
Pinch clusters. They dry beautifully. Check for slugs in the hollow stem.
Medicinal notes
Culinary.
Psychoactive / controlled
None.
Law
Legal food.
Lookalikes
Small brown gilled mushrooms
If it has true sharp gills and a solid stem, stop. Yellowfoot ridges are blunt and the stem is hollow.
Field ID ticket
Tick every required mark in the woods. 0/3 required. This still is not laboratory certainty.
Do not eat or sell this specimen. Missing required marks.