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Craterellus tubaeformis, formally known as 'Cantharellus' tubaeformis, reclassification in the fungi world happens, the common names stick 'Winter chanterelles' or 'Yellow legs' are what they are known as locally and across the sea on our neighbouring Island and work for everyday use.
They are a member of the Chanterelle family and there are a few variations in the species but unless pushed they all get picked under the one title. I picked two variants in one area, one basket and the winter chanterelle tag will do for both.When you find them they are quite rewarding, usually in good numbers and in the right spot unless you've a good market for them you'll be leaving loads behind.
Pine and spruce stands on damp ground are good spots to start looking, my closest spot is under beech but they like the damp leaf litter, on the drier areas they don't appear.
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| Up hill picking |
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| Carefully washed and left to dry |
What to look for.
Cap, up 3-4 cm wides, wavy margins deeply funnelled, brownish/yellowish.
Gills, greyish/ yellowish, vein like.
Stem, yellow or brownish,up to 5- 6 cm long and hollow all the way.
Flesh, thin, fragile when old, smell- indistinctly mushroom.
Spore print, white.
Habitat, Spruce, Pine forest and Beech leaf litter in moist conditions.
Season, late summer through to early Winter frost.
Cooking with them, for sauces cut the caps of keeping them intact, chop the legs up roughly before use as they can be slighty stringy and hang of your fork. Pickling, they look pretty in a jar and taste good.Drying, this intensifies the flavour making them a good addition to soups or stews just crunch them up in your hand before use.
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| 'Craterellus tubaeformis' |
LOL....regarding your comment on the colloquial or common name being the one that sticks around, while the binomial is the one that changes. This of course the complete opposite of why - not just mycologists but most naturalists/biologists prefer to use the Latin binomial - because while local names can and do change, sometimes from valley to valley, the Latin name usually remains permanent.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as you have astutely taken notice of, recent technological advances in genetics have allowed mycologists to pinpoint where each species fits on the evolutionary "tree of life".
While it's certainly a good thing to know with some finality where each species fits, it's also very true that the Kingdom Fungi has been hit particularly hard by a flurry of name changes - no doubt a result of previously uncontested label that was affixed long ago by a higher authority (bigger gun) in the Taxonomy War....an ongoing battle waged between the "splitters" on one side, and the "lumpers" on the other.....a war fought between those ready to create new genera based on small differences, and the lumpers who throw them together on even the most remote possibility of shared kinship.
LOL, Latin or Local, thanks Myco for the reminder that there's fences in 'the kingdom' , it's funny to think that the identity of a 'yellow leg' or other could be so devisive for some, I can see now how the candor of my writing could bring on the LoL.
DeleteI covered the subject Latin or Local in one of my previous blogs 'Foraging Notes'.Hope you have a read there, your comments would be welcome again.
Pat McLarnon.