Jack-o’-lantern mushroom

Yes. It contains illudin S and causes severe vomiting, diarrhoea and cramps. Cooking does not destroy the toxin.

Bright orange caps in clusters on roots or stumps at the base of trees, crowded thin true gills running down the stem, and a creamy white spore print.

The chanterelle grows singly from soil and has thick, forked ridges instead of gills. The jack-o'-lantern grows in clusters on wood and has true, thin gills.

Its gills can give off a faint greenish glow (bioluminescence), though it is not visible in every specimen or in daylight.

At the base of broadleaf trees such as olive and oak. GBIF records come from İzmir, Manisa, Balıkesir, Yalova, İstanbul, Kırklareli, Osmaniye and Samsun.

In autumn and early winter; Turkish records run from October to January.

Yes. Both names refer to orange Omphalotus species. In Europe and Turkey it is Omphalotus olearius; in North America the similar Omphalotus illudens. All of them are poisonous and cause severe vomiting.

An orange cluster with true gills at the base of a tree or on a stump is often the jack-o'-lantern mushroom, which is poisonous. Chicken of the woods also grows on trees, but as shelves without gills, and chanterelles grow on the ground. We do not eat an orange cluster unless the species is certain.

The western jack-o'-lantern (Omphalotus olivascens) is a related species from western North America with an olive tint. It is poisonous, like Omphalotus olearius, the species recorded in Turkey.

Not always, but we treat it with caution. In Turkey, a bright orange mushroom growing in dense clusters from olive or oak roots is most likely the poisonous jack-o'-lantern. Edible orange species such as the chanterelle and the saffron milk cap grow singly on the ground and have different undersides. We never judge a mushroom by its colour.

More than a hundred fungi are bioluminescent. In Turkey the best known is the jack-o'-lantern (Omphalotus olearius), whose gills give off a faint green glow in complete darkness. The mycelium of honey fungus can also make rotting wood glow, which is known as foxfire.

Chicken of the woods forms overlapping shelves with a yellow, pored underside and no gills. The jack-o'-lantern has a cap, a stem and true orange gills running down the stem, and it grows in clusters from roots or stumps. Both can be orange, but only the jack-o'-lantern has gills.

The eastern jack-o'-lantern is Omphalotus illudens, the species of eastern North American forests. It is poisonous like Omphalotus olearius, the species that grows in Turkey and that this page describes, and both are mistaken for chanterelles.

Yes, the jack-o'-lantern mushroom is poisonous and must not be eaten. If the jack-o'-lantern mushroom is eaten, symptoms usually begin within half an hour to a few hours: severe vomiting, diarrhoea and cramps, which can last several days. The toxin is illudin S and is not destroyed by cooking. If poisoning is suspected, keep any leftover mushroom.

In our calendar, jack-o'-lantern mushroom season runs Oct–Jan. The jack-o'-lantern mushroom fruits in autumn and early winter; Turkish GBIF records run from October to January.

It grows in clusters on stumps, roots and trunk bases of broadleaf trees such as olive, oak and chestnut, and is common in Mediterranean climates.

In Turkey, jack-o'-lantern mushroom records come mostly from the Aegean and Marmara regions: İzmir, Manisa, Balıkesir, Yalova, İstanbul and Kırklareli, with others from Osmaniye and Samsun.

The jack-o'-lantern mushroom can be confused with chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius, edible species), false chanterelle (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca, inedible) and chicken of the woods (Laetiporus sulphureus, edible species). Look-alikes are compared on this page.

In Turkish, the jack-o'-lantern mushroom (Omphalotus olearius) is called Ağulu mantar.