Cantharellus platyphyllus
Cantharellus platyphyllus is a red-to-orange chanterelle of tropical African woodland, gathered and sold locally in several countries. Its edibility rests on local use and literature, not a species-level safety study.
Substrates
Cantharellus tomentosus
A miombo-woodland chanterelle described from Tanzania and called Wipatwe in the Southern Highlands. Food classifications conflict, including within a 2015 community study.
Name, form and habitat
Cantharellus tomentosus Eyssart. & Buyck was described from Tanzania's Morogoro district. Taxonomic sources continue to use the name, and later molecular work lists sequenced Tanzanian vouchers under it. The species account describes a small chanterelle with a depressed, funnel-like cap, dense brown to olive-brown woolly surface, pale decurrent folds and a pale stem; the cap margin may be lobed. These details are a source-based description, not a field identification key. Other chanterelles can be difficult to distinguish, and local names do not by themselves confirm a scientific identification. [Meise Botanic Garden, Edible Fungi of Tropical Africa](https://www.efta-online.org/esp%C3%A8ces-species/cantharellus-tomentosus/); [Buyck, Eyssartier & Kivaisi 2000](https://doi.org/10.1127/nova/71/2000/491); [Tibuhwa et al. 2012](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3399100/).
Range and observed season
The documented range is sparse. The species was described from miombo woodland in Morogoro District, Tanzania. Museum records identify a holotype collected on 30 April 1998 and a paratype collected on 28 April 1998 from a hill slope near a university campus at 350–400 m; a later study identifies another voucher from Morogoro's SUA Forest. A 2015 field study in Iringa and Njombe, in Tanzania's Southern Highlands, collected mushrooms in January 2014 and includes C. tomentosus in its species account. These are collection observations, not a measured fruiting season. The available evidence spans January and late April at different sites and years; it does not support a reliable seasonal calendar. A published coordinate for the SUA Forest specimen is malformed (37°67′29″ E), so no point coordinate is carried over. [MNHN holotype record](https://science.mnhn.fr/institution/mnhn/collection/pc/item/pc0084732); [MNHN paratype record](https://science.mnhn.fr/institution/mnhn/collection/pc/item/pc0084121); [Tibuhwa 2014](https://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperDownload.aspx?paperID=42185); [Chelela, Chacha & Matemu 2015](https://doi.org/10.5943/cream/5/4/2).
Sources for this section
- Holotype: Cantharellus tomentosus, MNHN-PC-PC0084732 →
- Paratype: Cantharellus tomentosus, MNHN-PC-PC0084121 →
- A Comparative Study of Antioxidant Activities between Fresh and Dry Mushrooms in the Genera Cantharellus and Afrocantharellus from Tanzania →
- Wild Mushrooms from Tanzania: Characterization and their Importance to the Rural Communities →
Food record and disagreement
Tanzanian sources report the chanterelle as food, but the evidence is mixed. A 2018 Tanzanian market-focused study includes a C. tomentosus voucher in its table of edible mushrooms. A 2023 review cited by the Global Fungal Red List likewise describes it as thought edible. The 2015 study of Iringa and Njombe contains an internal mismatch: its results narrative includes Wipatwe among locally edible mushrooms, while Table 1 marks C. tomentosus as folk-inedible and scientifically edible. The IUCN assessment summarizes that some local communities may consider it inedible. The disagreement is part of the record; a checklist label is not a consensus food practice or proof that an unidentified specimen is safe. [Tibuhwa 2018](https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=rjf.2018.1.14); [Chelela, Chacha & Matemu 2015](https://doi.org/10.5943/cream/5/4/2); [Global Fungal Red List assessment](https://redlist.info/iucn/species_view/474510/).
Use, handling and safety limits
Research on Tanzanian chanterelles describes fresh and sun-dried forms at genus level, and one study analyzed fresh and dried C. tomentosus fruitbodies for laboratory antioxidant measurements. Those experiments do not establish a home preparation, dose, health benefit, or safe preservation procedure for this species. No species-specific recipe or validated handling guidance was found. Because local edibility judgments conflict and identification requires more than a vernacular name or colour description, this account makes no recommendation to collect or eat wild material. The IUCN assessment lists miombo woodland loss from agriculture and charcoal-related logging as a threat; it assesses the species as Least Concern but notes that the documented range remains poorly known. [Tibuhwa 2014](https://doi.org/10.4236/fns.2014.52026); [Global Fungal Red List assessment](https://redlist.info/iucn/species_view/474510/).
Places
Tanzania
Historical attestation · Country evidenceCountry-level record only; it does not imply continuous occurrence or uniform food use.
Morogoro District
Historical attestation · Region evidenceThe type label says a hill slope near a university campus; a later study names SUA Forest. A published SUA Forest coordinate has invalid minutes, so no specimen point is shown.
Southern Highlands
Historical attestation · Region evidenceThe study reports the local name Wipatwe and includes C. tomentosus in its Southern Highlands species account. Its narrative and table conflict about folk edibility; the table's scientific classification is edible. This row is an attestation of the study area, not a local preparation recommendation.
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Sources
Nova HedwigiaIdentity · Taxonomy · Locality
Addition to the inventory of the genus Cantharellus (Basidiomycota, Cantharellaceae) in TanzaniaDescribes C. tomentosus as a new species from Tanzania; cited by museum type records and later assessment.
Cited in: Name, form and habitat
Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, ParisIdentity · Locality · Season
Holotype: Cantharellus tomentosus, MNHN-PC-PC0084732Type label: Morogoro, hill slope near university campus; collected 30 April 1998 at 350–400 m.
Cited in: Range and observed season
Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, ParisIdentity · Locality · Season
Paratype: Cantharellus tomentosus, MNHN-PC-PC0084121Type label: Morogoro, hill slope near university campus; collected 28 April 1998 at 350–400 m.
Cited in: Range and observed season
Food and Nutrition SciencesEcology · Locality · Season · Image · Laboratory analysis
A Comparative Study of Antioxidant Activities between Fresh and Dry Mushrooms in the Genera Cantharellus and Afrocantharellus from TanzaniaTable 1 lists C. tomentosus voucher DDT68 from Morogoro, SUA Forest, 2007; the published longitude has invalid minutes and is not reused. Figure 2 panel G is an author photograph identified as C. tomentosus. Study analyzes fruitbodies in fresh and dried states; not a preparation guide.
Cited in: Range and observed season; Use, handling and safety limits
Current Research in Environmental & Applied MycologyFood history · Local name · Season · Image · Safety limit
Wild Mushrooms from Tanzania: Characterization and their Importance to the Rural CommunitiesReports the Southern Highlands study was conducted in Iringa and Njombe in January 2014; its results narrative lists Wipatwe among locally edible species, while Table 1 gives conflicting folk-inedible versus taxonomic-edible classifications; Figure 1 panels A–B identified as C. tomentosus.
Cited in: Range and observed season; Food record and disagreement
Research Journal of ForestryFood use · Market context
Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms Sold at Traditional Markets in TanzaniaLists C. tomentosus voucher Tibuhwa 1069.2007 (UPS, DSM) in the edible checklist; the species entry does not pinpoint a specific market or place of sale.
Cited in: Food record and disagreement
Global Fungal Red List Initiative / IUCN Red List assessment mirrorTaxonomy · Range · Habitat · Food use · Conservation
Cantharellus tomentosusAccepted name and Least Concern assessment; Morogoro origin, Southern Highlands name Wipatwe, miombo woodland ecology, uncertain range, edible but some local communities may consider it inedible, and habitat-loss threats.
Cited in: Food record and disagreement; Use, handling and safety limits
Meise Botanic Garden, Edible Fungi of Tropical AfricaIdentity · Morphology · Ecology · Image leads
Cantharellus tomentosusDetailed macroscopic and microscopic description, ectomycorrhizal association with Brachystegia spiciformis in miombo, known distribution; page hosts a multi-image gallery without an explicit open image license.
Cited in: Name, form and habitat
MycologiaTaxonomy · Identity · Locality
Afrocantharellus gen. stat. nov. is part of a rich diversity of African CantharellaceaeLists two C. tomentosus Tanzanian vouchers and molecular sequence accessions; the Morogoro voucher locality is district-level in that table.
Cited in: Name, form and habitat