July 31 (UPI) -- Scientists have long assumed chanterelle mushrooms on both sides of the Atlantic belonged to the same species. New research suggests the edible, golden mushrooms, prized for their sweet, buttery flavor, are in fact two distinct species.

"We've been calling these by the Latin name Cantharellus cibarius for years -- the same classification given to the European species of chanterelles," Greg Thorn, a professor of biology at the University of Western Ontario, said in a news release. "But it turns out this thing that we thought we knew really well, which grows from coast to coast, isn't what we thought it was."


When Thorn, a fungal ecologist, sequenced the genome of common chanterelle specimens collected in Newfoundland, he realized the mushroom boasted DNA markedly different from chanterelle populations across the pond.

Thorn and his research partners named the new species Cantharellus enelensis.

Their analysis yielded several more revelations. It turns out, chanterelles in North America boast significant genetic diversity. DNA analysis revealed the presence of another chanterelle species among their samples, Cantharellus cascadensis, which had never previously been identified in North America.

Scientists also discovered Cantharellus camphoratus specimens among chanterelles growing at the University of British Columbia herbarium. The species hadn't been named in a scientific paper since researchers found the species growing in Nova Scotia 40 years ago.

Researchers shared their discoveries in a new paper publish this week in the journal Botany.

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"It's only through DNA analysis that we were able to discover their dissimilarities from the European species, Cantharellus cibarius," Thorn said. "The good news is that all these species of chanterelles are edible and tasty."