Amanita annulatovaginata
A wild ectomycorrhizal Amanita of the Congo rainforest, recorded as locally consumed in Tshopo province. Its preparation was not established, and the genus includes deadly species.
Mushrooms
Cantharellus congolensis
Cantharellus congolensis is an ectomycorrhizal chanterelle of sub-Saharan Africa, eaten in the Democratic Republic of the Congo under local names. Its edibility rests on food-use surveys, not on toxicity tests.
Overview
Cantharellus congolensis is a chanterelle that forms ectomycorrhizal associations with trees in tropical African rainforest and woodland. The IUCN Red List assesses it as Least Concern and describes it as a very widespread chanterelle of sub-Saharan Africa. Under use and trade, the assessment records it as considered edible.
Sources for this section
Local names and use
A survey of edible ectomycorrhizal fungi in Tshopo province lists the species among edible fungi, with the local name Bolingobopii, and records it as used by all six ethnic groups in the survey table. Among the Lamba and Bemba people of Haut-Katanga, the local name is winnyata, which the study links to the species' black coating. The Tshopo authors note that local people there show little interest in ectomycorrhizal fungi overall, so the species is underused.
Range
A Forest Service report lists its range as Tanzania, Burundi, Congo and Senegal.
Sources for this section
Safety and identification
The food-use records are ethnomycological. The sources reviewed give no toxicological test and no safe-preparation method for this species. The genus Cantharellus includes many known edible species, but chanterelles have look-alikes, so identification by a qualified expert is needed before any wild collection is eaten.
Places
Tshopo
Documented use · Region evidenceRecorded in voucher-backed interviews in the Yangambi and Yoko reserve area.
Haut-Katanga
Traditional use · Region evidenceLocal name recorded among the Lamba and Bemba people.
Related
More from Tshopo
Amanita echinulata
A wild ectomycorrhizal Amanita of the Congo rainforest, recorded as locally consumed in Tshopo province. Its preparation was not established, and the genus includes deadly species.
Amanita robusta
Amanita robusta Beeli is a poorly documented Central African Amanita known from voucher-backed rainforest collections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cameroon. A Tshopo study reports local food use for a taxonomically supported voucher, but neither that record nor the name makes an unknown Amanita safe to identify or eat.
Armillaria heimii
Armillaria heimii is a saprotrophic fungus of the honey-fungus genus, recorded as a wild food in Tshopo province, DR Congo. Its preparation and safety are not established in the sources.
Calyptella longipes
Calyptella longipes is a wood and litter decaying fungus of the rainforests of Tshopo province, DR Congo, where some ethnic groups in voucher-backed interviews eat it. Its preparation was not recorded.
Cantharellus floridulus
Cantharellus floridulus is an ectomycorrhizal rainforest fungus that informants in Tshopo province, DR Congo, eat in voucher-backed interviews. Its preparation is not recorded, and the source gives no toxicity statement.
Cookeina speciosa
A forest cup fungus of the Tshopo province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, recorded in local interviews as eaten. The species-level preparation is not established.
Coprinellus disseminatus
Coprinellus disseminatus is a small saprotrophic inky-cap mushroom that grows in clusters on wood and debris. A Congolese food-use record and a Colombian catalogue entry both call it edible, but neither describes its preparation.
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Sources
PubMed CentralIngredient · Food use
Wild edible ectomycorrhizal fungi: an underutilized food resource from the rainforests of Tshopo province (Democratic Republic of the Congo)Listed as an edible species in the Tshopo survey with local name Bolingobopii.
Cited in: Local names and use; Safety and identification
ResearchGateLocal names
Edible Fungi Consumed by the Lamba and Bemba People of Haut-Katanga (DR Congo)Local name winnyata; edible.
Cited in: Local names and use
IUCN Red ListConservation · Range
Cantharellus congolensis (IUCN Red List assessment)Least Concern; considered edible under use and trade.
Cited in: Overview; Range; Safety and identification