Horn-shaped funnel (Craterellus cornucopioides)
Systematics:- Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
- Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
- Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
- Subclass: Incertae sedis (undefined)
- Order: Cantharellales (Chanterelle (Cantarella))
- Family: Cantharellaceae (Chanterelle)
- Genus: Craterellus (Funnelman)
- Species: Craterellus cornucopioides (Horn-shaped funnel)
Other names:
Craterellus horn-shaped
Funnel-shaped funnel
Horny mushroom
- Gray chanterelle (wrongly)
Funnel maker gray
- Black horn
Horned crow's hat:
The cap is trumpet-funnel-shaped, the inside is gray-black, the outer surface is wrinkled, grayish-white. The diameter of the cap is 3-5 cm. The flesh is thin, with a pleasant smell and taste.
Spore-bearing layer:
The pseudo-plates characteristic of the real chanterelle, Cantharellus cibarius, are absent in this species. The spore-bearing layer is only slightly wrinkled.
Spore powder:
Whitish.
Horn-shaped leg:
Virtually absent. The functions of the leg are performed by the base of the "funnel". The height of the mushroom is 5-8 cm.
Spread:
The horned funnel grows from June to autumn (in significant quantities in July-August) in moist deciduous and mixed forests, often in large groups.
Similar species:
The horned funnel can be confused with some little-known representatives of the genus Cantharellus, in particular, with the gray chanterelle (Craterellus sinuosus). In addition to color, a distinctive feature can be the complete absence of pseudo-plates in Craterellus cornucopiodes.
Edible: The mushroom is edible and good.
Remarks
Because of its shape, in Finland this mushroom is called the black horn (Finn.Mustatorvisieni), in Germany - the pipe of the dead (German Totentrompete), in France - the pipe of death (fr.Trompette de la mort), and in England - the cornucopia (eng Horn of Plenty).
It's funny to say, but I got acquainted with this wonderful mushroom only in the summer of 2001. And it is not surprising: among the known mushrooms, the horn-shaped funnel is distinguished, in my opinion, by the best camouflage. In the clearing between two old birches, a whole herd of “death tubes” of very different sizes can graze - in nine cases out of ten I will pass by, even if I am specifically looking for them. Well - they are not adapted for collection. In a sense, not of this world.
However, the world can be challenged and nevertheless start collecting the horn-shaped funnel - I learned this in the fall of 2004. The world will brutally avenge the insolence: in a few hours a person will find himself in the same place, and his whole basket will be filled, as a grandmother passing by gracefully put it, with "gray evil spirits."