Molecular phylogenetics has shown that C. tubaeformis deserves its reclassification from Cantharellus to Craterellus.

If these two groups are defined as separate species, the "eastern" yellowfoot would retain the scientific epithet tubaeformis due to the origin of the type specimens in Sweden.

[4] The cap is 1–4 centimetres (1⁄2–1+1⁄2 inches) wide, generally flat with a depressed center, funnel-shaped, waxy, with a wavy margin, and mild odor and taste.

[6] It is smaller than Cantharellus cibarius (the golden chanterelle) and has a dark brown cap with paler gills and a hollow yellow stem.

[5] It grows in temperate and cold parts of Northern America (near both coasts)[4] and Europe, including Scandinavia, Finland, Russia, and the British Isles, as well as in the Himalayas in Asia, including Assam,[citation needed] in the central parts of the Indian subcontinent,[8] and in Thailand.

[13] The species is mycorrhizal (forming symbiotic associations with plants), providing an obstacle to its cultivation.