Black trumpet

Yes, the black trumpet is edible and highly valued in the kitchen, but only once identified with certainty. It is eaten cooked, and its aroma grows stronger when dried.

The black trumpet is a black to grey, hollow trumpet or funnel. It has no gills; its outer surface is smooth or slightly wrinkled and ash grey, and its spore print is nearly white.

It grows in broadleaf woods, especially under beech and oak, from late summer to late autumn. In Turkey it is recorded from İstanbul, Düzce and Trabzon.

The name comes from the French trompette des morts; it is linked to its black colour and its autumn season close to All Souls' Day. The name does not mean it is poisonous.

Colour alone tells you nothing about safety. The black trumpet is an edible black mushroom, but some dark species such as the common ink cap can be poisonous. Our black mushrooms page shows the look-alikes together.

Because it is hollow, split it lengthwise and brush out soil and insects. Sauté it in butter, add it to pasta and risotto, or dry it and grind it to a powder.

We soak dried black trumpets in warm water for about twenty minutes, rinse them to remove any grit and chop them. We add them to sauces, risotto and egg dishes, and use the strained soaking water as stock.

No. The black trumpet (Craterellus cornucopioides) is a thin, hollow, black wild mushroom of the forest floor. The king trumpet is the king oyster mushroom (Pleurotus eryngii), with a thick white stem. We cook black trumpets briefly in butter; king trumpets need longer and suit roasting or slicing into rounds.

Yes. Horn of plenty, black trumpet, black chanterelle and trumpet of the dead are all names for Craterellus cornucopioides. The Latin name cornucopioides means 'like a cornucopia', the horn of plenty.

Yes, black trumpet is an edible species. Eat a wild one only after an expert has identified it with certainty.

In our calendar, black trumpet season runs Aug–Jan. The black trumpet fruits from late summer to late autumn in Europe. In Turkey, GBIF records run from August to January and peak in October and November.

The black trumpet grows in broadleaf woods, especially under beech and oak, on mossy, damp soil, often in large groups.

The black trumpet is recorded in Turkey; its 17 Turkish GBIF records come from İstanbul, Düzce, Trabzon, Kırklareli and Muğla.

Black trumpet can be confused with ashen chanterelle (Craterellus cinereus, edible species), Devil's urn (Urnula craterium, inedible) and sinuous chanterelle (Pseudocraterellus undulatus, edible species). Look-alikes are compared on this page.

In Turkish, black trumpet (Craterellus cornucopioides) is called Borazan mantarı; other local names include ölü borazanı and siyah borazan.