The orange – yellow coloration of these mushrooms makes it easy to spot them growing against the green mossy ground in the woods. As you head south in St. Lawrence County, NY the woods on the first ‘foothills’ of the Adirondacks are now (July 26) littered with these small edible mushrooms.

Cantharellus minor

A good look at the false gills that run down the stem

As a non-eater of fungus I can’t / won’t confirm my field guide’s assertion that these are ‘choice’ edible mushrooms. They are also supposed to have an odor that is sweet and fragrant (fruity, apricot-like) but I couldn’t smell anything sniffing a single specimen. But that figures since the mushroomexpert.com states a couple hundred may have to be collected and bagged before the odor is detectable.

Small Chanterelles are most often seen growing out of the moss on the forest floor but they do grow out of the leaf litter and bare ground. They are mycorrhizal – a mutually beneficial association with the tiny rootlets of trees. While helping the tree to absorb water and nutrients the mushroom gets sugars and amino acids in the symbiotic relationship.

They grow by the hundreds (or more) but never seem to be grouped closely. They’re scattered throughout the woods so collecting enough to eat even though they’re so small is not a problem. It’s just a matter of time spent picking enough.

Young specimens have a domed shaped cap but as they age the center will become depressed and begin to take on the more familiar shape of a Cantharellus although they never quite get there.