Helvella palustris

[ Ascomycetes > Pezizales > Helvellaceae > Helvella . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

One of several drab to blackish Helvella species, Helvella palustris is distinguished by its saddle-shaped cap and its stem, which is grooved but does not (usually) display the ornate, "lacunose" pockets and fluted cross-ribs typical of some Helvella species (Helvella lacunosa, for example). Additionally, Helvella palustris is a diminutive species, with a stem that rarely reaches 1 cm in width and 6 cm in length.

I have no information on the edibility of this species, and I do not recommend it.

Description:

Ecology: Officially saprobic, but I would guess that it has the potential to be mycorrhizal as well; growing scattered or gregariously on the ground or on woody debris in wet areas; often under Northern White Cedar; summer to fall; documented in Michigan, distribution uncertain.

Cap: 1-4.5 cm; saddle-shaped or loosely lobed; black to gray; smooth or wrinkled; undersurface smooth, black to gray; the margin free when young, later ingrown with the stem in places.

Stem: 1.5-6 cm long; to 1 cm wide; more or less equal; ribbed, but the ribs not forming holes or pockets; grayish.

Microscopic Features: Spores: 16.5-19 x 11-12.5 µ; elliptical; smooth; with one oil droplet.

REFERENCES: Peck, 1880. (Weber, 1972; Abbott & Currah, 1997.) I have not collected this mushroom. The top illustrated mushroom was identified by others as Helvella lacunosa, from which it seems clearly distinct; I have placed it here, along with the other illustrated mushrooms, on the basis of the photographs only.

Under Attack!

These specimens are being parasitized by Hypomyces cervinigenus, which is partial to Helvella species.

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2005, January). Helvella palustris. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/helvella_palustris.html