''Cantharellus guyanensis'' is a

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

South American species of

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the n ...

-forming

fungus A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

in the chanterelle genus (''Cantharellus''), first described by

Camille Montagne Jean Pierre François Camille Montagne (15 February 1784 – 5 December 1866) was a French people, French military physician and botanist who specialized in the fields of bryology and mycology. Life Montague was born in the commune of Vaudoy i ...

from

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

in 1854. It has since also been found in

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. The

fruit bodies The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cyc ...

have a bright orange cap colour and occur in medium- to large-sized troops. ''C. guyanensis'' seems to prefer sand-rich soil and forms

ectomycorrhiza An ectomycorrhiza (from Greek ἐκτός ', "outside", μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; ectomycorrhizas or ectomycorrhizae, abbreviated EcM) is a form of symbiotic relationship that occurs between a fungal symbiont, or mycobio ...

with a putatively wide range of host trees and shrubs including ''

Coccoloba ''Coccoloba'' is a genus of 177 species of flowering plants in the family Polygonaceae, which is native to the Neotropics. There is no overall English name for the genus, although many of the individual species have widely used common names. Ran ...

'', ''

Guapira ''Guapira'' is a genus of Neotropical shrubs in four o'clock family.Neea ''Neea'' is a genus of plants in family Nyctaginaceae from the Caribbean region, Central America, Central and South America. Members of the genus are commonly called ''Nia'', ''Neea'', or ''saltwood''. The genus was named by botanists José Anto ...

''. Its congeners '' Cantharellus aurantioconspicuus'', '' C. amazonensis'', and '' C. protectus'', all described from Brazil, are similar species. Although

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from " eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...

, ''C. guyanensis'' seems to be shunned by the Patamona people of Guyana who however use several other mushroom species occurring in their land. Known as "chanterelle de Guyane" in French, the species is presumably eaten in French Guiana.

References

External links

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Tropical Fungi – ''Cantharellus guyanensis''
guyanensis Fungi described in 1854 Fungus species {{Agaricomycetes-stub