California chanterelle
Cantharellus californicus
Golden-yellow fruiting bodies with forked ridges beneath the cap characterize this oak-associated California fungus. Similar-colored mushrooms include toxic species, so appearance alone cannot establish identity.
- Family
- Cantharellaceae
- Regional status
- California species
- Habitat
- Oak woodland
- Safety
- Lookalike risk
A closer look.
MykoWeb records this chanterelle chiefly beneath coast live oak and less frequently with tanoak and California bay. Its reduced, branching ridges differ from the true gills of western jack-o’-lantern. Habitat, color, or one feature cannot establish a safe identification.
MykoWeb · Michael Wood & Fred Stevens ↗ · MykoWeb · Michael Wood & Fred Stevens ↗
Compared with linked references on October 26, 2026. This is source verification, not independent expert review or an identification guarantee. Seasonal tags are approximate. Specimen maps show a selected historical subset.
Through the seasons
MykoWeb describes fruiting from autumn into early spring and occasional coastal fruiting in late summer with fog drip. This broad seasonal collection cannot predict local fruiting.
Knowledge has a context.
Historical accounts are presented as attributed records, not endorsed practices, medical advice, or permission to harvest.
No community-attributed historical account has been reviewed for this pilot record. Absence of an account here does not mean a species has no cultural history.
A record of where it was found.
Recorded in California oak woodland. The map shows selected georeferenced specimen records from GBIF; these historical collections do not define the full distribution or confirm current presence.
Oak woodland
Northern California · Central California · Southern California
Historical collections are evidence of recorded locations, not a continuous range, current presence, abundance, native status, or confirmed identification. Unmapped places are not evidence of absence.
What this map includes
From the first 26 results returned by the stored GBIF query, 26 specimens met the coordinate and reuse filters; 0 were excluded. The query matched 26 records at retrieval. This subset is not random or exhaustive.
Records are labeled California, have coordinates, and lack GBIF geospatial-issue flags. We exclude known coordinate uncertainty above 25 km and use only CC0 or CC BY 4.0 records. 1 included records do not report coordinate uncertainty. A 0.25° cell is about 28 km north to south; it does not show an exact collecting site.
Matched taxon: Cantharellus californicus ↗.
Inspect the stored query ↗ · Download the attributed snapshot ↓
MykoWeb · Michael Wood & Fred Stevens ↗ · MykoWeb · Michael Wood & Fred Stevens ↗
Data publishers & selected records
Dataset citations apply to the contributing specimens. The snapshot retains record IDs, original ownership, and reuse licenses; coordinates are generalized to a quarter-degree grid.
- San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium ↗
Harry D. Thiers Herbarium (SFSU) (2026). San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/zvmmvn accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-10-26.
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode · accessed October 26, 2026
- Field Museum of Natural History (Botany) Fungi Collection ↗
Grant S, Webbink K, von Konrat M (2024). Field Museum of Natural History (Botany) Fungi Collection. Version 4.14. Field Museum. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/x2hjnp accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-10-26.
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode · accessed October 26, 2026
- University of Washington Herbarium (WTU) - Bryophyte Collection ↗
Giblin D (2025). University of Washington Herbarium (WTU) - Bryophyte Collection. University of Washington Burke Museum. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/k7agv3 accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-10-26.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode · accessed October 26, 2026
- Intermountain Herbarium (fungi, not lichens), Utah State University ↗
Utah State University (2026). Intermountain Herbarium (fungi, not lichens), Utah State University. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/paoyy3 accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-10-26.
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode · accessed October 26, 2026
View 26 included specimen records
- GBIF 5895658174 ↗ · 2017University of Washington Herbarium (WTU) - Bryophyte Collection · Steve Trudell · University of Washington · License
- GBIF 1701207995 ↗ · 2012Field Museum of Natural History (Botany) Fungi Collection · C. McDonald · The Field Museum of Natural History · License
- GBIF 5069164525 ↗ · 2005San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora · License
- GBIF 5069165122 ↗ · 2005San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora · License
- GBIF 5069131466 ↗ · 2005San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora; F. Menge · License
- GBIF 5069164506 ↗ · 2005San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora; D. Chambers · License
- GBIF 5069165041 ↗ · 2005San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora; D. Chambers · License
- GBIF 5069165067 ↗ · 2005San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora · License
- GBIF 5069165097 ↗ · 2005San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora · License
- GBIF 5069165070 ↗ · 2003San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora; T. Haff · License
- GBIF 5069165090 ↗ · 2003San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora; F. Menge · License
- GBIF 5069131474 ↗ · 2003San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora · License
- GBIF 5069131548 ↗ · 2003San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora · License
- GBIF 5069164509 ↗ · 2003San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora · License
- GBIF 5069164514 ↗ · 2003San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora · License
- GBIF 5069164516 ↗ · 2003San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora · License
- GBIF 5069164517 ↗ · 2003San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora · License
- GBIF 5069164519 ↗ · 2003San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora; S. Bowen · License
- GBIF 5069164523 ↗ · 2003San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora · License
- GBIF 5069165099 ↗ · 2003San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora; S. Bowen · License
- GBIF 5069165118 ↗ · 2003San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora; S. Bowen · License
- GBIF 5069165119 ↗ · 2003San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora · License
- GBIF 5069165195 ↗ · 2003San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora; Chip · License
- GBIF 5069165124 ↗ · 2002San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora · License
- GBIF 5069131547 ↗ · 2001San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Arora · License
- GBIF 1990806074 ↗ · year unrecordedIntermountain Herbarium (fungi, not lichens), Utah State University · H.E. Parks · License
Darker = more included records, not abundance
Boundary: US Census Bureau TIGERweb ↗ · locations generalized to 0.25° cells
Trace the record.
References are attached to specific parts of this record. A citation is a route to evidence; it is not a claim that every field has completed review.
- 01California Fungi — Cantharellus californicus ↗
MykoWeb · Michael Wood & Fred Stevens
Supports: Species morphology, coast live oak association, and fall-to-early-spring fruiting; field identity and safe consumption are not established by this page.
- 02California Fungi — Omphalotus olivascens ↗
MykoWeb · Michael Wood & Fred Stevens
Supports: Toxicity, wood association, and comparison with California chanterelles.
- 03GBIF occurrence records & citation guidance ↗
GBIF Secretariat and contributing data publishers
Supports: Specimen occurrence snapshot. Each contributing dataset, DOI where available, record identifier, and license is retained in the downloadable map data.
- 04TIGERweb — States and Counties ↗
US Census Bureau
Supports: Generalized California state outline only; does not imply a species distribution.