Yellowfoot (winter chanterelle)

Craterellus tubaeformis

This one has a dangerous look-alike

Deadly webcap grows in the same mossy conifer woods, and people in Sweden who picked it for yellowfoot lost their kidneys. A webcap has true, rusty-brown gills, a solid stem and a rusty spore print. Check that every stem is hollow and every underside ridged, not gilled.

When: Typically September – November — September, October, November. Earlier in warm, low country; later in the hills.
Where it grows: Damp, mossy conifer forest on acid soil, especially spruce, often among rotting wood, in troops of hundreds or thousands.
How to know it: A small brown funnel-shaped cap 1–4 cm (½–1½ in) across, often with a hole down the middle, on a hollow, yellow to orange stem; underneath, pale greyish-yellow forked ridges, not gills, running down the stem.
Harvest and use: Fried, in soups and sauces, or dried. A late-autumn basket-filler.
Caution: Never scoop them up by the handful. Pick one at a time and look underneath each.

Yellowfoot (winter chanterelle) at a glance

Also called: Winter chanterelle, trumpet chanterelle, funnel chanterelle, yellowlegs; trattkantarell (Sweden), suppilovahvero (Finland), chanterelle en tube (France)
Family: Cantharellaceae
Where it grows: Temperate and cold Europe: very common and widespread in Scandinavia and Finland, patchy in Britain and Ireland (most abundant in west Wales, north-west England and Scotland), and in the hills and mountains further south. Also in North America and Asia.
When to pick: Late in the season: September to November in Britain and Ireland, often after the golden chanterelles are over, until the hard frosts.
Parts used: The whole mushroom, cooked or dried.
More look-alikes to know: Deadly webcap (Cortinarius rubellus) is the one that matters. Between 1979 and 1993, 22 people in Sweden were poisoned by it, nine of whom needed kidney transplants; the edibles they thought they had picked included yellowfoot and chanterelles.

Questions people ask about yellowfoot

What is a yellowfoot mushroom?

A small chanterelle relative, Craterellus tubaeformis, with a brown funnel cap, a hollow yellow stem and forked ridges instead of gills. It comes late in autumn in mossy conifer forest, often in huge numbers.

What can be mistaken for yellowfoot?

Deadly webcap, which grows in the same mossy conifer woods and has destroyed foragers’ kidneys. It has true rusty-brown gills, a solid stem and a rusty spore print. Yellowfoot’s stem is hollow and its underside has blunt, forked ridges.

When do winter chanterelles grow?

From September to the first hard frosts — in Britain and Ireland mostly September to November.

Found in these regions

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How to know it & its look-alikes →
Photo: John Powers · CC BY 4.0
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How to know it & its look-alikes →
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BerryAugust – October
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A thorny shrub with narrow, silvery-grey, willow-like leaves and branches packed with bright orange berries 6–8 mm (¼ in) across, from late summer into winter. Only female bushes fruit.
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Photo: Public domain (iNaturalist) · CC0 (public domain)

Checked against these sources · last reviewed October 2026

Seasons are typical for the middle of the range and move by weeks north and south, and up and down hills.

Educational information only. Never eat a wild plant or mushroom identified from a single photograph or description — confirm with a regional field guide or an experienced forager, and know the poisonous species in your area first.

Yellowfoot (winter chanterelle)

Craterellus tubaeformis

This one has a dangerous look-alike

When

Typically September – November — September, October, November. Earlier in warm, low country; later in the hills.

Where it grows

Damp, mossy conifer forest on acid soil, especially spruce, often among rotting wood, in troops of hundreds or thousands.

How to know it

A small brown funnel-shaped cap 1–4 cm (½–1½ in) across, often with a hole down the middle, on a hollow, yellow to orange stem; underneath, pale greyish-yellow forked ridges, not gills, running down the stem.

Harvest and use

Fried, in soups and sauces, or dried. A late-autumn basket-filler.

Caution

Never scoop them up by the handful. Pick one at a time and look underneath each.

Yellowfoot (winter chanterelle) at a glance

Also called

Winter chanterelle, trumpet chanterelle, funnel chanterelle, yellowlegs; trattkantarell (Sweden), suppilovahvero (Finland), chanterelle en tube (France)

Family

Cantharellaceae

Where it grows

Temperate and cold Europe: very common and widespread in Scandinavia and Finland, patchy in Britain and Ireland (most abundant in west Wales, north-west England and Scotland), and in the hills and mountains further south. Also in North America and Asia.

When to pick

Late in the season: September to November in Britain and Ireland, often after the golden chanterelles are over, until the hard frosts.

Parts used

The whole mushroom, cooked or dried.

More look-alikes to know

Deadly webcap (Cortinarius rubellus) is the one that matters. Between 1979 and 1993, 22 people in Sweden were poisoned by it, nine of whom needed kidney transplants; the edibles they thought they had picked included yellowfoot and chanterelles.

Questions people ask about yellowfoot