Helvella pezizoides

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

by Michael Kuo

Among the Helvella species with smooth (rather than ribbed) stems, Helvella pezizoides is distinguished by a combination of features:

• The cap and stem are black.
• The cap is saddle-shaped or loosely lobed.
• The cap margin is strongly rolled upwards in youth, and often in maturity.
• The undersurface of the cap is densely fuzzy.

The very similar Helvella atra has a cap margin that is not usually rolled up, and an undersurface that is smooth or merely finely fuzzy.

I do not recommend any species of Helvella for the table.

Description:

Ecology: Officially saprobic, but I would guess that it has the potential to be mycorrhizal as well; growing alone or gregariously under hardwoods or conifers, on the ground or on rotting wood; documented in the Great Lakes area; range uncertain.

Cap: 1.5-5 cm; loosely saddle-shaped, typically forming a deep fold; dark brownish gray to black; the margin rolled upwards when young and often at maturity; undersurface densely fuzzy or hairy, grayish, often ingrown with the stem where contact occurs.

Flesh: Thin; brittle.

Stem: 3-4 cm long; to 1 cm thick; colored like the cap; smooth or finely fuzzy.

Microscopic Features: Spores: 17-20 x 10.5-12 µ; elliptical; with one oil droplet; smooth.

REFERENCES: Fries, 1822. (Weber, 1972; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1981; Abbott & Currah, 1997.) I have not collected this mushroom.

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Cite this page as:

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