Chanterelles lookalike...

Not Chanterelles!

July 20th.

Oh my the rain just keeps coming. If I didn't have to work I'd have several pounds of golden Chanterelles by now. Hopefully this weekend I can make up for some lost time.

Chanterelles are some of the easiest mushrooms to spot and identify HOWEVER there are some lookalikes you should be aware of. The most notorious of which is the Jack O'Lantern mushroom pictured left.

The color and the gills might fool you a little. Also they have a sweet odor that you might mistake for the lovely scent of true chanties. But look at how they're growing - all in a clump with the stems all joined at the base. You'll never see a patch of chanterelles like this. They also have a more uniform deep orange color then the yellow to orange color of chanties.

If you're reading this with a growing sense of anxiety and an increasingly uncomfortable feeling in your stomach fear not, you won't die. You'll be in for a bad several hours but it'll pass. Just remember to keep yourself hydrated.

Edibility aside, Jack O' Lanterns have one very cool feature. They're bioluminescent. If you find a good patch come back at night, let your eyes completely adjust to the dark and you'll see an eerie glow coming from the underside of the mushrooms.