Tawny funnel or False chanterelle

The cap is 4–10 cm across, occasionally bigger. Young caps are convex with an inrolled margin, then flatten, sink in the centre and become funnel-shaped, often with a wavy edge and little spouts. Late in the season caps can stay squat, with hardly any dip.

The colour is tawny, orange-brown, brick or reddish brown, and paler, almost yellowish in some specimens. The surface is smooth: shiny in mushrooms from conifer woods, matt and silky in those from broadleaf woods. As it dries the cap fades to buff, and old caps develop darker spots that give a marbled look.

The cap is 3-8 cm across, convex with an inrolled margin when young, becoming funnel-shaped with a thin wavy margin. It's bright orange, brick-toned, more intense in young mushrooms (orange to orange-red) and paler in old ones, fading to yellow-ochre. The surface is velvety, suede-like, with barely visible fine scales, especially at the centre. In wet weather it's slightly matte, not sticky.

The gills are very crowded and narrow, with many short gills in between, and run far down the stem. They start whitish or cream, turn tawny cream and then brownish in old specimens, but always stay paler than the cap. They don't fork, and they come away from the flesh fairly easily.

The spore print is white to cream, sometimes with a faint pinkish tint. A brown print means it isn't a tawny funnel; the brown rollrim, for example, gives one.

It has true, crowded gills, not the gill-like ridges of the real chanterelle. They're thin and decurrent, forking again and again but without the cross-veins of the real chanterelle, and orange-yellow, matching the cap. The spore print is white to pale yellow. The key feature that sets it apart from the real chanterelle: if you see distinct thin gills, it's the false chanterelle.

The stem is 3–7 cm tall and 0.5–1.5 cm thick, the same colour as the cap but paler. It's tough, slightly fibrous, and becomes hollow with age.

The base is covered in fluffy white mycelium that binds needles and litter into a clump. There is no ring, no veil remnants and no volva.

The stem is 2-6 cm tall and 0.5-1.2 cm thick, cylindrical, often curved and slightly thickened toward the base. It's orange-yellow like the cap, smooth, with no ring. The stem flesh is soft and thin, not as dense and springy as the real chanterelle's.

The flesh is thin, especially in the cap, whitish to pale cream, doesn't change colour when broken and has no milk. The taste is unremarkable, sometimes slightly bitter.

The flesh is thin, watery, yellowish-cream and brittle, and doesn't change colour when cut. There's no distinct smell. Older ones taste slightly sour.

The smell is faint, sweetish or slightly spicy, and in many specimens barely noticeable. Don't rely on smell to identify it: the toxic look-alike Paralepistopsis amoenolens also smells sweet and floral, only more strongly.

Faint, neutral and mushroomy, without the characteristic fruity apricot aroma of the real chanterelle. It's a supporting clue, not the main one: the real chanterelle's apricot scent is faint, so check the gills first.