Helvella lacunosa

Morphological Features:

Pileus 3 to 4 cm high by 2 to 3 cm wide, saddle-shaped, with the margin more or less incurved or undulate. Normally composed of 2 to 3 well-differentiated lobes. The color of the non-fertile surface is highly variable within gray tones, sometimes tending toward blackish-brown.

Hymenium composed of the outer surface of the pileus, which exhibits great color variability, just like the inner surface, ranging from light gray to nearly black.

Stipe can exceed 5 cm in height, hollow and cylindrical. It is entirely traversed by quite deep grooves that form cavity-like depressions. Its color ranges from dirty white to gray.

Flesh soft, fragile, perhaps slightly elastic, with no distinctive taste or odor.

Habitat:

This fungus has no particular site requirements for fruiting; it occurs in any type of woodland and even in parks. Its most common season is autumn, and it is very frequent.

Observations:

There is a highly similar species, currently often synonymized with this one, namely Helvella sulcata, which has a black pileus and which we treat as an independent species. It may also resemble Paxina queletii in its stipe, the latter having a brownish, tightly folded pileus. Confusion with Helvella crispa, which exhibits whitish tones, is less likely.