Cantharellus melanoxeros

Morphological Features:

Pileus 2 to 5 cm in diameter, uniformly rounded or even convex when young, later flattened with a slightly depressed center, but not umbilicate. Color is a fairly saturated matte yellow, sometimes with brownish and even lilac tints. The surface is slightly tomentose when young, then smooth, with an undulate margin that is more regular than other species of its genus and involute.

Lamellae absent; this fungus possesses a hymenium formed by vein-like anastomosing folds, perfectly perceptible though not as pronounced as the ridges of other congeners. They range in color from flesh-pink to pale lilac and are decurrent on the stipe.

Stipe in this case is solid, not hollow, central and curved, broader towards the pileus and attenuated at the base, occasionally becoming conical. Color ranges from dirty white to lilac-pink.

Flesh thin, though not as much as in other Cantharellus species, whitish in color, with a marked tendency to darken at the pileal margin, but especially more pronounced on the stipe. Its odor is not strong but distinct, differing from other species of its genus, and its taste is mild and sweet.

Habitat:

A rare species that appears occasionally in summer and autumn, associated with broadleaf forests. It sometimes fruits in fasciculate clusters, but this is not a fixed rule.

Observations:

It is a somewhat mediocre edible, of inferior quality to Craterellus lutescens, which has a yellow stipe and grows under pines. Some authors synonymize the species Cantharellus ianthinoxanthus with this one; however, its flesh does not darken and its spores are somewhat larger.