Craterellus cornucopioides is an edible mushroom

Mushroom

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...

, also known as trumpet of death, black chanterelle, black trumpet, or horn of plenty. The Cornucopia

Cornucopia

The cornucopia or horn of plenty is a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, nuts, other edibles, or wealth in some form...

, in Greek mythology, referred to the magnificent horn of the goat (or goat of the nymph) Amalthea

Amalthea (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Amalthea or Amaltheia is the most-frequently mentioned foster-mother of Zeus. Her name in Greek is clearly an epithet, signifying the presence of an earlier nurturing goddess, whom the Hellenes, whose myths we know, knew to be located in Crete, where Minoans may have called...

, that filled itself with whatever meat or drink its owner requested. It has become the symbol of plenty.

The mushroom is dark, almost black, and looks rather unattractive, but has a very good flavour. When dried its flavour even improves becoming quite like that of black truffle. It is hard to find because of its dark color, which easily blends in with the leaf litter on the forest floor. Hunters of this mushroom say it is like looking for black holes in the ground.

External links

• Mushroom-collecting.com: Craterellus cornucopioides
• MykoWeb California Fungi: Craterellus cornucopioides
• Craterellus cornucopioides Healing-Mushrooms.net, March 2008.