Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca, commonly known as the false chanterelle, is a species of fungus in the family Hygrophoropsidaceae. Austrian naturalist Franz Xaver von Wulfen described the false chanterelle in 1781, noting both its resemblance with the true chanterelles and people's propensity to confuse them. The false chanterelle was then placed in the genus Clitocybe, but it was later observed that its forked gills and dextrinoid spores indicated a relationship to Paxillus. Genetic analysis has confirmed that it belongs to the order Boletales and is more closely related to boletes. The fruit bodies (mushrooms) are yellow–orange, with a funnel-shaped cap up to 8 cm (3 in) across that has a felt-like surface. The thin, often forked gills on the underside of the cap run partway down the length of the otherwise smooth stipe. The species is found across several continents, growing in woodland and heathland, and sometimes on woodchips used in gardening and landscaping. Reports on the mushroom's edibility vary; it is considered poisonous, but has historically been eaten in parts of Europe and the Americas.
Taxonomy Austrian naturalist Franz Xaver von Wulfen described the false chanterelle as Agaricus aurantiacus in 1781, reporting that it appeared in the fir tree forests around Klagenfurt in October. He added that it could be confused with the chanterelle by the inexperienced, but that its true nature was very different; in contrast to its edible lookalike, he described it as "kind of pernicious". The specific epithet is the Latin word aurantiacus, meaning "orange". James Sowerby illustrated it and gave it the name Agaricus subcantharellus, describing it as a "perhaps unfavourable" variety of A. cantharellus (chanterelle). The fungus was placed in the genus Merulius by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1792, and then Cantharellus by Elias Fries in 1821. Bernhard Studer-Steinhäuslin concluded it could only be classified in the genus Clitocybe in 1900, based on its white spores, decurrent gills and lack of a ring. It was elevated to the status of genus in a 1929 publication by Emile Martin-Sans, with authorship attributed to René Maire. Martin-Sans concurred with Maire's assessment of Hygrophoropsis, suggesting that it represented a form intermediate between Cantharellus and Clitocybe, and was thus worthy of generic ranking. The genus name refers to a resemblance to the genus Hygrophorus. It is commonly known as the false chanterelle.
Two varieties described by Derek Reid in 1972, H. aurantiaca var. macrospora and H. aurantiaca var. rufa, have since been promoted to distinct species status as H. macrospora (1996) and H. rufa (2008). Two other varieties of the fungus have been described, but they are not considered to have independent taxonomic significance by Index Fungorum: var. nana (Singer 1946), characterized by a small fruit body; and var. robusta (Antonín 2000), characterized by a robust fruit body and an odour similar to Maggi seasoning sauce. Pale forms of the fungus are sometimes referred to as var. pallida. This taxon was first published by Robert Kühner and Henri Romagnesi in 1953, but later considered invalid as it did not conform to nomenclatural rules. Variety nigripes, a taxon with a black-brown stipe, is invalid for similar reasons. H. aurantiaca var. pallida was published validly in 1995. In 1979, Egon Horak suggested that H. aurantiaca and the New Zealand taxon H. coacta were the same species, but neither Index Fungorum nor MycoBank accept this synonymy. According to MycoBank, H. aurantiaca has several heterotypic synonyms, i.e. different types but considered the same species:
Agaricus alectorolophoides Schaeff. (1774) Agaricus subcantharellus Sowerby (1809) Cantharellus brachypodus Chevall. (1826) Cantharellus ravenelii Berk. & M.A.Curtis (1853) Merulius brachypodes (Chevall.) Kuntze (1891) Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca has been confused with the true chanterelles (genus Cantharellus) because of overall similarities in appearance. However, the forked gills, frequently off-centre stipe placement, and dextrinoid spores of H. aurantiaca suggested a relationship with Paxillus, prompting Rolf Singer to classify the genus Hygrophoropsis in the family Paxillaceae in 1946. Several pigments have been identified from the fungus, including the orange variegatic acid, methyl variegate, the red variegatorubin, and several derivatives of pulvinic acid. The presence of these pigments suggests a chemotaxic relationship with the Boletaceae, Coniophoraceae, and Paxillaceae – families of Boletales with members that have similar compounds. Molecular phylogenetic analysis confirmed its affinity lay in the order Boletales in 1997, though later research showed it is not closely related to Paxillus or other gilled members of the order.
Description
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