Humpback Chanterelle (Cantharellula umbonata)

Current name

Index Fungorum Cantharellula umbonata (J.F. Gmel.) Singer

MycoBank Cantharellula umbonata (J.F. Gmel.) Singer

Other names

Tuberculate Cantharellula (or Bumpy Cantharellula).

Systematic position

Specific epithet etymology

Umbonatus, Lat., having a boss, humpbacked. From umbo, onis m boss, protrusion in the center of a shield + -atus, a, um quality.

Synonyms

Agaricus molliculus Britzelm., Ber. naturhist. Augsburg 28: 144 (1885)

Cantharellus dichotomus var. brevior Sacc., Syll. fung. (Abellini) 5: 487 (1887)

Cantharellus umbonatus (J.F. Gmel.) Pers., Neues Mag. Bot. 1: 106 (1794)

Cantharellus umbonatus var. brevior Peck, Bull. N.Y. St. Mus. nat. Hist. 1(no. 2): 36 (1887)

Cantharellus umbonatus var. dichotomus Peck, Bull. N.Y. St. Mus. nat. Hist. 1(no. 2): 36 (1887)

Cantharellus umbonatus var. subcaeruleus Peck, Bull. N.Y. St. Mus. nat. Hist. 1(no. 2): 36 (1887)

Clitocybe mollicula (Britzelm.) Sacc., Syll. fung. (Abellini) 5: 147 (1887)

Clitocybe umbonata (J.F. Gmel.) Konrad, Bull. trimest. Soc. mycol. Fr. 47(1): 146 (1931)

Leotia lubrica var. umbonata (J.F. Gmel.) Wallr., Fl. crypt. Germ. (Norimbergae) 2: 551 (1833)

Merulius umbonatus J.F. Gmel., Syst. Nat., Edn 13 2(2): 1430 (1792)

General description

This mushroom doesn't stand out for anything special except for its limited study. At the same time, it is included in the IUCN Red List as a species of Least Concern.

Habit

Fruiting body

Agaricoid (cap and stipe)

Hymenophore

Lamellate (gills present, including folded or rudimentary)

Fruiting period (list)

AugAugust (1st–10th)August (11th–20th)August (21st–31st)SepSeptember (1st–10th)September (11th–20th)September (21st–30th)

Mushroom cap

1.7–5.5 cm in diameter, initially convex, then funnel-shaped with a small, often sharp umbo in the center. Margin inrolled in young fruiting bodies, becoming slightly wavy with age. Surface smooth, finely velvety, smoky-gray to mouse-gray with a steel-blue tint, paler toward the margin.

Gills decurrent on the stipe, forked-branched, creamy-white, becoming grayish or acquiring a reddish tint with age, reddening on damaged areas.

Stem

3.5–10 cm long, 0.2–0.8 cm in diameter, cylindrical, light gray, with longitudinally arranged white fibers, and white tomentose pubescence at the base.

Flesh

Whitish, light, weakly pinkening when cut.

Odor

Weak, pleasant, mushroom-like.

Microscopy

Spore print white. Spores cylindrical.

Ecology and distribution

Grows either in symbiosis or as a parasite on mosses (Polytrichum, Dicranum, Pleurozium) in coniferous forests, on sandy soils. Widely distributed in northeastern North America and Europe.

Fruiting

August–September.

Nutritional properties

Edible

In the US and Europe, it is considered a fully edible mushroom, especially when young. In Russia, it is regarded as conditionally edible. However, due to its small size and the fact that it fruits alongside the main flush of other edible mushrooms, it is rarely collected for culinary purposes.

Similar species

The Humpback Chanterelle has no poisonous or inedible look-alikes among mushrooms growing in Russia.

Link to this page for printed editions

Shipovalov A.G. Humpback Chanterelle (Cantharellula umbonata) - Mushrooms of Vologda Region [Electronic resource] URL: https://xn----7sbancweblffgklubds60aja.xn--p1ai/en/humpback-chanterelle-cantharellula-umbonata (accessed: 13.04.2026).