''Cantharellus minor'' is a

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 ...

native to eastern North America. It is one of the smallest of the genus '' Cantharellus'', which includes other edible chanterelles.

Description

''Cantharellus minor'' is colored bright yellow to yellowish-orange. The

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

ranges from wide and is convex and umbonate, often shallowly depressed, becoming funnel-shaped in some. The yellowish

gills A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

are decurrent, fade to yellowish white in maturity, and may seem large in proportion to the small fruiting body. The stipe is tall and thick.

Similar species

Lookalikes include the

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

's '' C. tabernensis'' which has a darker center, '' Craterellus ignicolor'' which has shallower ridges and usually a depression in the cap, and '' Gloioxanthomyces nitidus'' which has a very circular margin, fairly straight stem and non-forking gills.

Distribution and habitat

Native to eastern North America, the fungi fruits from June to September. It is suspected of being

mycorrhiza A mycorrhiza (; , mycorrhiza, or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant's rhizosphere, the plant root system and its surroundings. Mycorrhizae play ...

l, found in association with

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

s and

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

. Recently, ''C. minor'' has been reported from semi-evergreen to evergreen forests in the Western Ghats,

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, India forming

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 ...

l associations with tree species like ''

Vateria indica ''Vateria indica'', the white dammar, is a species of tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae. It is Endemism, endemic to the Western Ghats mountains in India. It is threatened by habitat loss. It is a large canopy or emergent tree frequent in tropic ...

'', '' Diospyros malabarica'', '' Hopea parviflora'', and '' Myristica'' species.

Uses

Although insubstantial, the mushrooms are edible.

References

External links

* minor Fungi described in 1872 Fungi of Asia Fungi of North America Edible fungi Taxa named by Charles Horton Peck Fungus species {{Agaricomycetes-stub