Chanterelle or Deadly webcap
Cantharellus species · Cortinarius rubellus, C. orellanus
Orellanine
Nothing for two days to three weeks, then kidney failure. The delay is the longest in mycology, and it means the meal is almost never connected to the illness. Serious cases end in dialysis or transplant.
Check in this order
Most decisive first
| Feature | Chanterelle | Deadly webcap |
|---|---|---|
| 01Underside | Blunt forking ridges that are folds of the cap flesh and cannot be picked off. | True gills, thin and blade-like, rusty orange, well spaced. |
| 02Spore print | Pale cream to yellowish. | Rust brown. Decisive, and it costs a few hours. |
| 03Veil | None at any age. | A cobweb of fine threads between cap margin and stem in young specimens, leaving a rusty band on the stem later. |
| 04Cap shape | Wavy, irregular, funnelled with age. | Conical with a pointed bump at the centre in C. rubellus. |
Where people go wrong
Orange is orange. Both are found in the same coniferous woods in the same weeks, and a picker moving fast fills a basket by colour. The rule that removes the entire risk is to leave every rusty-spored, cobwebby mushroom alone, forever.
This page tells you what to check. It does not tell you the mushroom in your hand is safe, and it cannot. If you are not certain, do not eat it, and if you have already eaten something and feel unwell, contact a poison centre immediately and keep an uncooked specimen for identification.
Other pairs