Toxic
Jack-o'-lantern
Omphalotus illudens, O. olearius
The character that does the work
True gills and orange flesh, in a tight cluster on wood. A chanterelle has blunt forking ridges, pale flesh, and grows singly from soil.
The specimen sheet, in examination order
01Cap
5 to 15 cm, deep orange to pumpkin, smooth, often depressed at the centre with a wavy margin.
02Underside
TRUE gills: thin, sharp-edged, blade-like, unforked, running a little way down the stem, and separable from the cap flesh.
03Stem, and the base
Orange, tapering, often curved because it grows in a crowded cluster.
04Flesh, cut
Orange right through, matching the outside.
05Spore print
06Where it grows
Dense clusters at the base of hardwood stumps, on buried roots and on dead wood.
When to look
Typically Jul to Nov in the northern hemisphere. Fruiting swings by weeks with rainfall and by a month or more with latitude, so this is when to look rather than when it will be there.
Eastern North America and Europe, as closely related species.
What is worth knowing about it
One of the most frequent causes of mushroom poisoning in both North America and Europe. Rarely fatal, reliably horrible: violent vomiting and cramps for several hours, with hospital admissions for dehydration every autumn. Fresh gills sometimes glow faintly green in complete darkness, which is a good party trick and a poor test, since absence of glow proves nothing.
Confused with
- Chanterelle
This page tells you what to check. It does not tell you the mushroom in your hand is that species, and it cannot. If you are not certain, do not eat it. If you have already eaten something and feel unwell, contact a poison centre and keep an uncooked specimen.
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