Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca

Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca.
Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca, the false chanterelle, is a species of fungus in the family Hygrophoropsidaceae. It is found across several continents, growing in woodland and heathland, and sometimes on woodchips used in gardening and landscaping. Its mushrooms are yellow-orange with a funnel-shaped cap up to 8 cm (3 1⁄8 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 stalk. The mushroom can be mildly poisonous. Austrian naturalist Franz Xaver von Wulfen described the false chanterelle in 1781, noting both its resemblance to 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.